ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Environmental Information Regulations

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the reason is for the delay in introducing the Environmental Information Regulations that were consulted upon in draft in the autumn of 2002 and which were intended to come into force in spring 2003.

Elliot Morley: European Directive 2003/4, which ensures all member states have equal access to information and puts the Aarhus Convention into law, was published in January 2003. We have therefore had to ensure the EIRs are consistent with the Directive, which must be implemented by February 2005. In November 2003, Ministers agreed to align the EIRs with the Freedom of Information Act as far as possible.
	We have also been taking into account views of Government Departments and other stakeholders raised in response to the consultation on the Environmental Information Regulations.

Environmental Information Regulations

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the Environmental Information Regulations that were consulted upon in draft in the autumn of 2002 will (a) be laid before Parliament and (b) come into force.

Elliot Morley: The Environmental Information Regulations will be laid shortly, and will come into force by February 2005, in order to implement European Directive 2003/4/EC.

Environmental Information Regulations

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to ensure that the civil justice system in England meets the requirements of (a) Article 9(4) of the Aarhus Convention that review procedures must not be prohibitively expensive, (b) Article 9(2) of the Aarhus Convention that organisations promoting environmental protection should have a guaranteed right of access to a review procedure before a court of law in environmental matters; and (c) Article 9(3) of the Aarhus Convention that members of the public have access to administrative or judicial procedures to challenge acts and omissions by private persons which contravene provisions of national law relating to the environment.

Elliot Morley: We believe that these requirements as expressed in the terms of Articles 9(2), 9(3) and 9(4) of the Convention are already reflected in the civil justice system in England and Wales.
	The Convention covers a field of competence shared between the European Community and its member states. The final form of our implementation of the access to justice provisions must therefore be determined through negotiations with our European partners. We are, however, concerned to ensure that the Community has the best possible arrangements in place to give effect to the access to justice pillar of the Convention.
	The Commission's current proposals on the access to justice element of the Convention, which are still subject to negotiation, may ultimately introduce enhanced rights of access for particular organisations from other member states.

Access to Justice

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  when the United Kingdom will ratify the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters;
	(2)  if she will place in the Library her Department's assessments of the UK's compliance with each of the obligations placed upon it by the Aarhus Convention.

Elliot Morley: The Convention covers a field of shared competence between the European Community and its member states. The UK is considering the implications of existing and proposed Community, and domestic, legislation, and before ratifying, we will need to ensure that we can give effect to all the obligations in the Convention that fall within our area of competence.
	We hope that it will be possible to complete ratification of the Convention in the first half of 2005.
	As usual, information about the UK's implementation of these measures will be provided to Parliament when the relevant implementing measures come before it.

Access to Justice

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the findings of the report funded by her Department published on 24 March by the Environmental Justice Project entitled Environmental Justice.

Elliot Morley: The report of the Environmental Justice Project was published in November 2003. It was one of five independent studies into justice in environmental matters, which were wholly or partially funded by Defra.
	Its main conclusions are that the civil law system could be improved by the establishment of an environmental court, alteration of rules on costs and improved public access to information about environmental law. The report also concluded that under criminal law the punishment of environmental offences is too low and that more judicial guidance and training is needed, along with greater powers for enforcement agencies.
	The Department is currently considering these conclusions alongside the findings of the other research undertaken.

Access to Justice

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on her Department's policy towards the proposal for an EU Directive on Access to Justice in Environmental Matters.

Elliot Morley: The Department welcomes the proposals. They provide an opportunity to consider what more is needed to complete implementation in the European Community of the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making, and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters. They could also support general compliance with EC environmental law. The Government's general stance in further negotiations on the proposals will be to seek alignment of Community law with the Convention. At the -same time, we will aim to ensure that the Directive is flexible enough to suit the individual requirements of each member state, and in no way restricts access to justice where it currently exists.

Animal By-products

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received about the Animal By-Products Regulations 2003.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department undertook an extensive consultation process on the draft Animal By-Products Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003 No. 1482). Copies of the responses received are available in the Defra Library, and can be obtained on request.
	Departmental officials have held regular discussions with those industries and other interested parties who have been affected by the Regulations.
	Department Ministers answered over 220 PQs and 350 MCs between January 2001 and December 2003 in relation to the Regulations.

Antibiotics (Pigs)

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what amount of antibiotics is used per 1000 tonnes of live pig in the UK; and what the average figure is in the whole EU.

Ben Bradshaw: The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) publishes an annual report on the sales of antimicrobial products in the UK. The latest report, for 2002, shows that 98 tonnes (active ingredient) of antibiotics were sold for products authorised only for use in pigs. 998,000 tonnes of pigs (liveweight) were slaughtered in the UK in 2002. However, 283 tonnes (active ingredient) of antibiotic were sold for multi-species products. It is not known how much of these were for pig use. Using the pig only sales tonnage, 98.2 kg (active ingredient) of antibiotic were sold per 1000 tonnes of pigs slaughtered liveweight. As some of the multi-species products may have been used in pigs this figure is likely to be an underestimate. The VMD is working on a system to collect data that will enable the multi-species tonnage to be broken down by species but this is not yet available.
	The UK is one of a small number of EU member states that publish data on antibiotic sales. It is not, therefore, possible to give a whole EU equivalent.

Antibiotics (Pigs)

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what restrictions exist on the use of antibiotics in pigs; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: Antibiotics for use in animals are authorised either as veterinary medicinal products or as zootechnical feed additives (which include antimicrobial growth promoters). These work by increasing the efficiency of the absorption of feed in the animal's gut thereby allowing them to reach slaughter size more quickly.
	The use of zootechnical feed additives in the EU is subject to Directive 70/524/EC, as amended. No feed additive may be authorised unless it satisfies criteria set out in that Directive, including a requirement that at the level permitted in feedingstuffs it does not adversely affect human or animal health or the environment. Such additives may be used only within the terms of their entry in the annexes in the Directive.
	Antibiotics are also used as veterinary medicines but no antibiotic is authorised in the UK for the treatment of food producing animals unless it has first been considered by the independent, Veterinary Products Committee (VPC) which advises the Government on the safety, quality and efficacy of veterinary medicines. All such antibiotics authorised in the UK are classified as prescription only medicines. They may be administered only on the basis of a prescription issued by a veterinary surgeon who has the animals under his or her care.
	In addition anybody incorporating veterinary medicines or zootechnical feed additives into animal feedingstuffs, or distributing these products, must be inspected, approved and registered by the Animal Medicines Inspectorate (AMI) of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain or the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland.
	A new EU Regulation 1831/2003/EC on additives for use in animal nutrition comes into force on 18 October 2004. Among other things this Regulation will ban the use of all veterinary antibiotic growth promoters from 1 January 2006.

Badgers

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on the results of trials in Northern Ireland on TB in badgers; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: There have been no trials in Northern Ireland on TB in badgers.

Beef Exports

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when her Department last held talks on the export of beef to (a) Thailand and (b) other Asian countries.

Ben Bradshaw: Defra officials have met delegations from a number of countries, including Thailand and South Korea, in the past year and discussed beef exports. Also, diplomatic posts continue regularly to urge host Governments of Asian and other countries to lift bans on imports of UK export eligible beef.

Beef Exports

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on what grounds the Thai authorities ban the import of British beef.

Ben Bradshaw: The Thai authorities ban beef imports from countries where cases of BSE have been recorded.
	The UK Government believes that this ban is unjustified with respect to UK beef produced under the Date-based Export Scheme .

BSE

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the current situation in relation to BSE in the UK.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 1 July 2004
	As at 21 June 2004, there had been 182,770 confirmed cases of BSE in the UK. Due to stringent controls numbers of BSE cases are now significantly lower than in 1988, when the disease was first made notifiable. Reported new cases are running at less than 1 per cent. of early 1993 levels, at the peak of the epidemic, when there were over 1,000 a week.

Cage and Aviary Birds

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her policy is on exhibitions of cage and aviary birds, with particular regard to the Pet Animals Act 1951; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The Pet Animals Act 1951 is concerned with the sale of animals and is applicable only to events where sales take place and therefore exhibitions which are solely for competitive showing fall outside the scope of the 1951 Act. Our policy on the sale of pet and captive animals is currently under review and the 1951 Act is likely to be repealed and replaced with more up to date legislation.

Civil Service Relocation

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many civil servants and what percentage of the total civil service workforce in her Department will be relocated over the next five years (a) outside the M25, (b) to the West Midlands and (c) to Staffordshire.

Alun Michael: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 22 June 2004, Official Report, column 1292W, by my right hon. Friend, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Paul Boateng).

Contaminated Land

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much contaminated land was reclaimed in each of the last three years in (a) England, (b) the Eastern Region and (c) Essex.

Elliot Morley: Most remediation of contaminated land takes place as part and parcel of the development of land, and is secured through the planning system. Data on this activity is not collected centrally. Where remediation is instead being secured through Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, data is collected by the Environment Agency. Data to 31 March 2004 is contained in the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) on 28 April, Official Report, columns 1004–12, detailing action under Part IIA, including seven cases in the Eastern region of which two are in Essex. Data about completion of remediation is not collected centrally.

Domestic Water Conservation

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures the Government will bring forward to encourage domestic water conservation.

Elliot Morley: The Government are engaged in a number of activities to encourage water conservation across different sectors. In relation to domestic water use, the recent report by the Sustainable Buildings Task Group, "Better Buildings—Better Lives", contained a number of recommendations to improve the water efficiency of new and existing buildings. These include tighter minimum standards for water fittings, development of best practice guidance and incentives to encourage the uptake of water efficient products. The Government are actively considering how it will take these forward. I am also looking into the feasibility of introducing a product labelling scheme to help domestic consumers identify water efficient fittings and appliances. These activities will complement the existing duty on water undertakers to promote the efficient use of water by their customers.

Farming

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department is taking (a) to promote dairy farming and (b) to persuade young people to enter dairy farming.

Alun Michael: The Government are taking action in line with its Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food to facilitate industry action to create a dairy sector that is attractive, sustainable and profitable for those engaged in it. For example:
	My noble friend Lord Whitty has been chairing meetings of a Dairy Supply Chain Forum, which has been looking at co-operative solutions to improve supply chain efficiency and other issues.
	The Government have made a grant of nearly £0.5 million to the Food Chain Centre to examine how to improve dairy supply chain efficiency; and
	We have established English Food and Farming Partnerships to encourage co-operation and collaboration across all agricultural sectors.
	As with all new entrants into farming, young farmers can obtain a range of business advice for start up businesses through the business links network and the Small Business Service. For full time farmers this includes access to the Farm Business Advice Service.

Farming

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will reduce the administrative burden for farmers.

Alun Michael: The Government are indeed working hard to reduce administrative burdens on farmers not least through reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, reducing 10 main funding schemes to a Single Payment Scheme. This will remove much of the bureaucracy and paperwork associated with the old schemes and result in a streamlined and simplified application process for farmers. More than 100 pages of forms will be reduced to a fraction of this number. And through the Modernising Rural Delivery Rural Programme we aim to simplify access to rural funding streams.
	In addition, the Whole Farm Approach will be rolled out in late 2005. The whole farm appraisal is currently being widely piloted, and this will transform Defra's interactions with farmers on subsidies, regulation and advice by redesigning them around on-farm activities and saving farmers from repeated requests for regulatory data.
	The existing administrative burdens on farmers derive largely from regulations to achieve desirable outcomes for society such as protecting human and animal health, animal welfare and the environment. In addition, administrative checks are required to ensure proper disbursement of funds under CAP and other rural schemes. However, the Government are taking a broader approach to reducing administrative burdens on farmers; in response to the recent recommendations of the Regulation Taskforce set up by the Secretary of State. Along with a new unit developing a farm regulation strategy, this will help improve Defra's regulatory performance; achieving a coherent and holistic approach to the development of regulation and its impact on farmers.

Fisheries

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate her Department has made of the number of fishermen in the UK in each year since 1990.

Ben Bradshaw: The following table shows estimates of the number of fishermen in the UK for 1990–2002, compiled from estimates made by Defra and other Fisheries Departments in the UK.
	Estimates for 2003 are not yet compiled, but will be published in "United Kingdom Sea Fisheries Statistics 2003", available in August 2004.
	
		Number of Fishermen in the UK, 1990–2002
		
			  England and Wales Scotland 
			  Regular Part-time Total Regular Part-time Total 
		
		
			 1990 (1)— (1)— (1)— 7,550 766 8,316 
			 1991 (1)— (1)— (1)— 7,303 792 8,095 
			 1992 (1)— (1)— (1)— 7,181 865 8,046 
			 1993(2) (1)— (1)— (1)— 7,675 1,347 9,022 
			 1994 7,542 3,425 10,967 7,160 1,410 8,570 
			 1995 8,240 2,192 10,432 6,889 1,506 8,395 
			 1996 7,867 2,130 9,997 6,689 1,395 8,084 
			 1997 7,253 2,176 9,429 6,729 1,465 8,194 
			 1998 7,149 1,962 9,111 6,395 1,376 7,771 
			 1999 6,083 1,613 7,696 6,042 1,288 7,330 
			 2000 5,491 1,815 7,306 5,594 1,308 6,902 
			 2001 6,057 1,392 7,449 5,353 1,284 6,637 
			 2002 5,587 841 6,428 4,369 1,338 5,707 
		
	
	
		
			  Northern Ireland United Kingdom 
			  Regular Part-time Total Regular Part-time Total 
		
		
			 1990 1,050 316 1,366 (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 1991 1,081 288 1,369 (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 1992 1,036 296 1,332 (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 1993(2) 957 272 1,229 (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 1994 938 228 1,166 15,640 5,063 20,703 
			 1995 933 226 1,159 16,062 3,924 19,986 
			 1996 815 148 963 15,371 3,673 19,044 
			 1997 850 131 981 14,832 3,772 18,604 
			 1998 892 115 1,007 14,436 3,453 17,889 
			 1999 845 90 935 12,970 2,991 15,961 
			 2000 612 74 686 11,697 3,197 14,894 
			 2001 513 46 559 11,923 2,722 14,645 
			 2002 568 43 611 10,524 2,222 12,746 
		
	
	(1) No data.
	(2) The apparent increase in fishermen in Scotland reflected the licensing of 10m and under vessels; when more information became available on the numbers of such active vessels.
	Source:
	Fisheries Departments in the UK

Multi-pick-up/Drop-off Licences

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what evaluation her Department has made of the costs to farmers and hauliers resulting from the continued enforcement of multi-pick-up and drop-off licences; and what assessment she has made of the risks of abandoning such licences.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 29 June 2004
	Farmers and hauliers who comply with the rules governing multiple pick-ups and drop-offs incur no costs arising from the enforcement of these provisions. Defra is responsible for the cost of granting approval of multiple pick-ups and drop-offs.
	Any vehicle taking livestock onto a farm and then off again as part of a multiple pick-up or drop-off movement risks spreading disease, either to the animals if disease is present on the farm, or to animals on the farm if disease is present in the animals on the vehicle. Given the need for continued biosecurity measures to reduce the risk of disease there are no proposals to amend the requirement that multiple pick-ups and drop-offs take place only from approved points.

Organic Food Initiatives

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what support the Department has made available to organic food initiatives over the last 12 months.

Ben Bradshaw: The Organic Farming Scheme has made available improved payments to farmers as outlined in brief here:
	Conversion payments over five years of:
	£1,860 per hectare for top fruit orchards—apples (others than cider apples) pears, cherries and plums;
	£450 per hectare for Arable Area Payment Scheme eligible land and land in permanent crops;
	£349 per hectare for other improved land;
	£50 per hectare for unimproved land.
	Maintenance payments over five years of:
	£150 per hectare for top fruit orchards and Arable Area Payment Scheme eligible land and land in permanent crops;
	£115 per hectare for other improved;
	£25 per hectare for unimproved land.
	The modified OFS itself is an interim measure. We have recently announced that we intend (subject to approval by the European Commission) to introduce a payment of £60 per hectare in the organic strand of the Entry Level Stewardship scheme compared with £30 per hectare for non-organic farmers.
	Advice to farmers considering converting to organic production is provided free of charge to them by the Defra funded Organic Conversion Information Service.
	The Rural Enterprise Scheme has provided support for organic food projects such as small on-farm processing facilities and the development and marketing of organic products. In excess of £1.1 million of RES funding has been awarded to organic food projects during the last year.
	Defra have a £2.2 million research budget for organic production. This covers a wide range of support that assists the industry in improving its competitiveness.
	There is also provision under the LINK scheme for private sector companies to seek assistance with organic research, £5 million has been allocated to provide organic LINK research over the five years beginning 2003–04.

Ozone

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the levels of urban concentrations of ozone for each year since 1997.

Elliot Morley: Defra's Automatic Urban and Rural Network (AURN) currently monitors tropospheric ozone concentrations hourly at 85 locations in England, covering a variety of urban, suburban and rural areas. Ozone monitoring in other parts of the UK is the responsibility of the relevant devolved Administration. Data from UK ozone monitors are maintained on an electronic database available to the public on the National Air Quality Information Archive at www. airquality.co.uk. The database currently holds around 116 million air quality measurements and 50 million statistics. The public can interrogate Defra's Air Quality Archive to obtain data, including the levels of urban ozone concentrations for each year since 1997.
	The following table summarises the average and range of annual mean ozone concentrations at Defra's urban ozone monitors from 1997 to 2003.
	
		Average, minimum and maximum of annual mean tropospheric ozone concentrations measured in micrograms per metre cubed by Defra's urban monitors in the AURN
		
			  Average Minimum Maximum 
		
		
			 1997 31 19 46 
			 1998 34 12 53 
			 1999 38 13 55 
			 2000 36 13 54 
			 2001 36 14 50 
			 2002 37 15 58 
			 2003 40 16 58

Portable Electrical Equipment

Howard Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how often since 1997 (a) her Department and (b) its associated public sector organisations have undergone portable appliance testing of IT equipment; and what the cost was of portable appliance testing in each year since 1997.

Alun Michael: In DEFRA, there is no central management of portable appliance testing of IT equipment, and at present the level of testing varies from site to site. It is normally undertaken as part of the Facilities Management arrangements for each site and is not controlled by the IT supplier.
	At the main IT site at Guildford an annual exercise for portable appliance testing of electrical equipment includes portable IT equipment. Recent costs have been:
	
		
			  No of devices tested Costs 
		
		
			 2001 1,134 1,841 
			 2002 10,986 15,380 
			 2003 3,608 6,359 
			 2004 8,052 13,245 
		
	
	Note:
	There are no figures for the period before 2001.
	The number of devices tested at Guildford covers all portable electrical appliances including kettles, lamps etc. Separate figures are not maintained for IT equipment testing at Guildford. The number of items tested at Guildford varies from year to year. All portable IT equipment should have a full test at least every five years. Class 1 IT equipment (requiring 3 ply power cable including earth) is tested annually.
	Portable appliance testing of IT equipment is not undertaken at most other Defra sites although power leads serving the hardware are tested. This basic level of testing is undertaken annually and has been since 1997 and the average unit cost is currently £10 per device. There are approximately 20,000 portable IT devices (PCs, laptops and printers) in Defra and its agencies.
	The cost of collecting and collating the required information from Defra's associated public sector organisations would almost certainly exceed the cost threshold for PQs.

Radioactive Waste

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many radioactive waste sites there are in Lancashire, where they are located; and how often they are inspected.

Elliot Morley: Two radioactive waste sites are located in Lancashire: Clifton Marsh in Preston and Ulnes Walton in Leyland. Ulnes Walton has not received waste since 1984.
	Clifton Marsh is currently inspected six times per quarter and Ulnes Walton twice per quarter.

Refrigerator Recycling

Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reasons the Environment Agency report auditing the refrigerator recycling scheme has been delayed; and when it is now expected.

Elliot Morley: The Environment Agency report auditing the sites handling the recovery of ozone depleting substances from refrigerators and their disposal was originally planned for publication by the end of March 2004. The Agency has since sought to publish a single, comprehensive report that incorporates a subsequent analysis of the process efficiency of the audited sites, and a comparison of their performance. This will be published in July 2004.

Rod Licences

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total amount of revenue raised by fishing rod licences was for each of the last 10 years; and if she will make a statement on where the revenue was spent.

Ben Bradshaw: The total rod licence revenue collected by the Environment Agency in England and Wales for each of the last ten years is as follows:
	
		£ million
		
			  Rod licence revenue 
		
		
			 1994–95 12.151 
			 1995–96 11.172 
			 1996–97 12.253 
			 1997–98 13.519 
			 1998–99 12.956 
			 1999–2000 14.211 
			 2000–01 14.419 
			 2001–02 14.869 
			 2002–03 16.109 
			 2003–04 18.005 
		
	
	All rod licence revenue is spent to protect, conserve and improve freshwater fisheries on such actions as enforcement activities, monitoring, research and development, and habitat improvement works.

Rural Housing

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assistance the Department has provided to individual rural housing schemes in the last year for which figures are available, broken down by local authority area.

Alun Michael: Financial assistance in support of housing is a matter for the Deputy Prime Minister whose Department provided £85 million in 2003–04 (through the Housing Corporation) in support of affordable housing schemes in local authority areas with rural districts.
	Defra, through the Countryside Agency and ODPM through the Housing Corporation have financed Rural Housing Enablers. These enablers work with rural communities, housing associations, local authorities and landowners to help increase the supply of affordable housing in rural settlements.
	The full breakdown of ODPM support allocated through the Housing Corporation to local authority areas with rural districts for in 2003–04 is detailed as follows. We are not able to breakdown the figures below the level of district to show which units are in rural settlements in the district:
	
		
			 Local authority £ allocated Housing units 
		
		
			 Ashford 600,800 10 
			 Dover 673,600 12 
			 Sevenoaks 2,575,665 32 
			 Shepway 235,000 6 
			 Swale 422,781 10 
			 Tonbridge and Mailing 955,464 9 
			 Tunbridge Wells 493,963 12 
			 Lewes 325,000 6 
			 Wealden 260,014 2 
			 Chichester 386,342 9 
			 Mid Sussex 68,223 1 
			 Basingstoke and Deane 386,889 6 
			 Hart 174,000 4 
			 New Forest 1,328,323 20 
			 Test Valley 51,335 2 
			 Winchester 363,405 9 
			 West Berkshire 359,631 8 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 163,846 4 
			 Wokingham 698,593 18 
			 Guildford 1,620,365 20 
			 Mole Valley 157,500 6 
			 Waverley 602,700 11 
			 South Oxfordshire 317,515 5 
			 AylesburyVale 1,706,987 30 
			 Dacorum 537,013 7 
			 East Hertfordshire 120,242 4 
			 North Hertfordshire   
			 Three Rivers 850,000 7 
			 Bedford 386,859 8 
			 Mid Bedfordshire 495,573 9 
			 East Cambridgeshire 846,431 19 
			 Fenland 1,137,499 27 
			 Huntingdonshire 592,074 13 
			 Peterborough 188,812 3 
			 South Cambridgeshire 851,368 15 
			 Breckland 895,430 13 
			 Broadland 420,643 5 
			 Great Yarmouth 125,000 25 
			 North Norfolk 1,373,218 26 
			 South Norfolk 1,047,463 15 
			 King's Lynn and West Norfolk 1,038,122 18 
			 Babergh 1,175,300 32 
			 Mid Suffolk 1,341,302 57 
			 St. Edmundsbury 492,893 5 
			 Suffolk Coastal 549,117 16 
			 Braintree 118,549 2 
			 Epping Forest 841,000 11 
			 Maldon 224,216 3 
			 Uttlesford 569,500 9 
			 North Dorset 1,577,630 34 
			 Purbeck 341,311 5 
			 Kennet 460,445 15 
			 North Wiltshire 324,066 6 
			 Salisbury 640,774 16 
			 West Wiltshire 223,877 5 
			 Mendip 215,824 5 
			 Taunton Deane 1,441,877 18 
			 South Somerset 434,764 7 
			 East Devon 411,000 10 
			 North Devon 914,529 17 
			 South Hams 767,144 41 
			 Teignbridge 579,768 13 
			 Mid Devon 145,105 6 
			 West Devon 20,000 2 
			 Caradon 454,852 15 
			 Carrick 529,018 9 
			 Kerrier 281,686 8 
			 Penwith 261,000 8 
			 Restormel 1,474,122 38 
			 North Somerset 308,850 10 
			 Cotswold 1,047,959 34 
			 Forest of Dean 937,052 28 
			 Stroud 673,616 20 
			 North West Leicestershire 287,725 5 
			 Rutland 1,062,584 21 
			 Boston 1,390,341 24 
			 East Lindsey 514,028 20 
			 South Kesteven 765,627 12 
			 West Lindsey 558,579 30 
			 Daventry 491,318 9 
			 East Northamptonshire 110,000 14 
			 Wellingborough 114,560 2 
			 Bassetlaw 390,410 14 
			 Newark and Sherwood 522,057 20 
			 Amber Valley 444,796 5 
			 High Peak 553,840 24 
			 Derbyshire Dales 1,074,400 15 
			 Bromsgrove 288,164 5 
			 Wychavon 806,150 18 
			 North Warwickshire 695,363 20 
			 Rugby 145,712 5 
			 Stratford-on-Avon 1,253,528 16 
			 East Staffordshire 263,141 4 
			 Newcastle-under-Lyme 131,756 2 
			 South Staffordshire 1,131,286 10 
			 Stafford 187,197 4 
			 Staffordshire Moorlands 366,267 6 
			 North Shropshire 1,002,202 17 
			 Oswestry 1,855,120 37 
			 Shrewsbury and Atcham 940,136 15 
			 South Shropshire 173,037 6 
			 Telford and Wrekin 140,102 2 
			 Bradford 496,617 13 
			 Calderdale 745,000 17 
			 Wakefield 193,275 8 
			 Craven 474,555 8 
			 Harrogate 691,171 7 
			 Richmondshire 679,589 9 
			 Ryedale 401,164 4 
			 Selby 501,385 9 
			 Scarborough 195,753 2 
			 Easington 1,631,659 28 
			 Teesdale 791,923 14 
			 Wear Valley 536,388 6 
			 Alnwick 437,820 7 
			 Berwick-upon-Tweed 2,622,735 38 
			 Tynedale 1,107,644 18 
			 Chester 914,466 19 
			 Congleton 403,041 6 
			 Crewe and Nantwich 393,492 6 
			 Vale Royal 162,093 2 
			 Chorley 410,996 8 
			 Fylde 1,121,000 17 
			 Lancaster 685,483 12 
			 West Lancashire 995,397 15 
			 Allerdale 952,825 10 
			 Eden 1,142,513 23 
			 South Lakeland 277,321 4 
			 South Gloucestershire 1,402,211 28 
			 East Riding 722,171 12 
			 North Lincolnshire 254,044 6 
			 Herefordshire 296,723 4 
			 Malvern Hills 189,077 4 
			 Total 85,100,791 1,717

Self-storage

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the Environment Agency has received representations concerning the storage of waste in self-storage sites; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The Environment Agency have not received any representations about the storage of waste at self-storage sites.
	Storage of waste independent from the site of production is an activity requiring a permit or Waste Management Licence.
	Any producer of waste who needs to alter the arrangements for temporary storage of waste, pending disposal or recovery may either, (i) apply to the Agency to modify an existing permit or Waste Management Licence; or (ii) make suitable arrangements for the waste management contractor for off-site storage. The Agency has been urging businesses to check that their waste management arrangements remain secure as the ban on landfill co-disposal approaches.

Thames Barrier

Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 8 June 2004, Official Report, column 291W, on the Thames Barrier, what assessment she has made of the Chief Scientific Adviser's statement of 31 March that climate change is a reason for increased use of the Thames Barrier.

Elliot Morley: I am not aware that the Chief Scientific adviser made a statement on 31 March that climate change is a reason for increased use of the Thames Barrier. However, this issue was raised when he provided evidence to the EFRA Committee on Climate Change, Water Security and Flooding on 12 May, when he said that increased use of the Barrier is an indication of the influences of global warming.
	The Barrier is closed to protect London from extreme high tidal waters generated by storm surges in the North Sea and to provide storage for extreme freshwater flows, which would threaten west London, and combinations of these phenomena.
	It is true that recent years have seen an increase in frequency of Barrier closures but whether this is attributable to changes in operational procedures, increased fluvial flows or climate change is difficult to accurately measure. One factor is that mean sea level and extreme tidal waters are expected to increase as the South East of England continues to fall relative to sea level. This was factored into the design of the Barrier.

Water Treatment

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which UK water treatment works are provided with (a) activated carbon filtration systems, (b) ozone filtration systems and (c) both activated carbon and ozone filtration systems; and where each is located.

Elliot Morley: Water treatment works in the UK which use either activated carbon filtration, or ozonation, or a combination of both processes are not readily identifiable. Granular activated carbon filtration is a standard part of the treatment process at many of the larger water treatment works in England and Wales, particularly where the raw water is derived from river and other surface water sources. In most cases ozonation may be used, either continuously or intermittently, in combination with the activated carbon filtration. A number of groundwater sources are also treated by activated carbon filtration alone, or ozonation followed by activated carbon filtration, depending on the type of contaminants that need to be removed.

Water Treatment

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of UK water treatment works is provided with (a) activated carbon filtration systems, (b) ozone filtration systems and (c) both activated carbon and ozone filtration systems.

Elliot Morley: The percentage of water treatment works in the UK which are provided with either activated carbon filtration, or ozonation, or a combination of both processes is not readily identifiable. The treatment cycle at many of the larger water treatment works in England and Wales includes ozonation followed by activated carbon filtration, particularly when treating water derived from river and other surface water sources. Some works use granular activated carbon filtration in combination with other processes. A number of groundwater sources are also treated by activated carbon filtration alone, or by ozonation followed by activated carbon filtration.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

American Express

Andrew Dismore: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission what service level agreement has been reached with the company due to replace American Express in the Travel Office; what assessment he has made of the consequences for American Express staff of the changes of provider; what measures he has put in place to (a) check performance and (b) other feedback from hon. Members and their staff of the new company's performance; what the anticipated savings to the House are; and if he will make a statement.

Archy Kirkwood: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given on 17 June 2004, Official Report, column 1045W. Detailed discussions for the provision of service are under way with Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT). These include discussion of service standards which will be an important part of the final contract. As I stated on 17 June, I understand it to be CWT's assessment that the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations will apply. The jobs of existing staff will thus be protected and they have the opportunity to remain in the Travel Office. A range of measures will be put in place to check on the performance of CWT: these will be reflected in the service standards and monitored on a regular basis. Hon. Members and their staff are encouraged to provide feedback on the service through the Travel Office Consumers' Panel, to the Director of Finance and Administration or to CWT itself. The contract has been let on a competitive basis, and represents best overall value to Parliament, taking account both of the cost of the contract itself, and also potential savings in the cost of travel.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Council Tax

John Barrett: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many households are eligible for a reduced level of council tax through the disability reduction scheme, broken down by region.

Nick Raynsford: The information requested is tabled as follows.
	
		
			   Government office region Number of chargeable dwellings subject to disabled reduction at 3 November 2003 
		
		
			 East of England 14,118 
			 East Midlands 10,246 
			 London 14,415 
			 North East 6,023 
			 North West 16,983 
			 South East 19,927 
			 South West 13,765 
			 West Midlands 14,574 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 10,903 
			 England total 120,954 
		
	
	Source:
	CTB1 2004–05 returns to ODPM

Affordable Housing

Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 15 June 2004, Official Report, column 851W, on social handling, if he will provide a breakdown by Government Office Region of the proportion of (a) new social housing for rent and (b) affordable housing built in each year since 1990 that had three or more bedrooms.

Keith Hill: The estimated percentages of registered social landlord (RSL) new build completions in each English Government Office Region that had at least three bedrooms are in the following table. Equivalent figures for other types of affordable housing are not readily available.
	
		
			  Region 
			  North East North West Yorkshire and Humber East Midlands West Midlands East London South East South West 
		
		
			 1990–91 19 19 15 9 27 26 21 17 32 
			 1991–92 11 25 18 15 27 21 19 19 24 
			 1992–93 19 31 21 25 29 29 20 28 33 
			 1993–94 21 32 25 27 31 34 27 32 42 
			 1994–95 32 43 37 30 33 31 27 36 39 
			 1995–96 32 40 36 30 29 35 28 41 36 
			 1996–97 31 38 34 17 24 42 38 38 40 
			 1997–98 33 47 38 26 28 38 38 44 45 
			 1998–99 38 42 35 26 30 43 39 46 36 
			 1999–2000 28 36 39 27 41 39 35 39 38 
			 2000–01 31 37 40 23 36 29 30 36 42 
			 2001–02(3) 64 11 42 36 50 43 23 34 45 
			 2002–03(3) 38 7 60 25 40 36 28 38 71 
			 2003–04(3) 0 38 28 26 37 27 29 27 52 
		
	
	(3) Since 2000–01 the estimated percentage figures are based only on National House Building Council returns only. It is important to recognise that recent large changes in the percentages figures for some regions are a consequence of the underlying numbers being quite small.

Affordable Housing

Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  what proportion of the new affordable housing to be built in Tower Hamlets in (a) 2004–05 and (b) 2005–06 will be (i) social housing for rent, (ii) low cost home ownership (LCHO) stock, (iii) LCHO for key workers and (iv) intermediate rented housing for key workers;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of new affordable housing to be built in each London sub-region in (a) 2004–05 and (b) 2005–06 will be (i) social housing for rent, (ii) low cost home ownership (LCHO) stock, (iii) LCHO for key workers and (iv) intermediate rented housing for key workers.

Keith Hill: In 2004–06 the proportion of new affordable homes being provided in Tower Hamlets through the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme (ADP) is as follows:
	
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 Social housing for rent inc. Temporary Social  Housing 46.3 
			 Low cost home ownership 26.4 
			 Low cost home ownership for key workers 19.0 
			 Intermediate rented housing for key workers 8.3 
		
	
	The following table sets out the amount and percentage of affordable housing to be provided in each London sub-region broken down by the same categories as above.
	
		
			 London sub-region Dwellings Percentage of programme 
		
		
			 East   
			 Social Rent inc Temporary Social Housing 2,792 13.1 
			 LCHO 1,459 6.9 
			 Key Worker LCHO 1,591 7.4 
			 Key Worker Intermediate Rent 549 2.6 
			 North   
			 Social Rent inc Temporary Social Housing 2,039 9.6 
			 LCHO 479 2.3 
			 Key Worker LCHO 961 4.5 
			 Key Worker Intermediate Rent 543 2.6 
			
			 South East   
			 Social Rent inc Temporary Social Housing 1,503 7.1 
			 LCHO 663 3.1 
			 Key Worker LCHO 866 4.0 
			 Key Worker Intermediate Rent 201 0.9 
			
			 South West   
			 Social Rent inc Temporary Social Housing 1,714 8.0 
			 LCHO 549 2.6 
			 Key Worker LCHO 841 4.0 
			 Key Worker Intermediate Rent 167 0.8 
			
			 West   
			 Social Rent inc Temporary Social Housing 2,123 10.0 
			 LCHO 763 3.6 
			 Key Worker LCHO 1,113 5.2 
			 Key Worker Intermediate Rent 360 1.7 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Percentages are for the whole of the programme for London.
	2. The figures exclude units provided through works to Registered Social Landlord (RSL) stock.
	3. Key worker allocations are part of the national strategy to spend at least £l billion over three years to 2005–06.
	Source:
	Housing Corporation London Allocation Statement 2004–06.

Affordable Housing

Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the affordability of new shared ownership schemes in Tower Hamlets to (a) homeless, (b) overcrowded and (c) black and minority ethnic households.

Keith Hill: Shared ownership is designed to help social tenants and others on modest incomes who cannot afford to purchase a home without help but who can sustain the long-term financial commitment of owner occupation. Availability of schemes depends on regional housing needs and priorities as identified in housing and investment strategies
	The London borough of Tower Hamlet's affordability criteria for shared ownership properties is that a 25 per cent. share should be affordable to a household with a minimum income of £18,000 per annum.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has made no detailed assessments for these groups.

Correspondence

Nigel Evans: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he will reply to the letter to him of 12 March 2004 from Mr. Howard Kerr, Managing Director of Calor Gas Ltd., regarding the building regulations relating to oil tank installations and the OFTEC self-certification scheme.

Stephen Timms: I have been asked to reply.
	I replied on 1 July 2004.

English Heritage

Philip Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 23 June 2004, Official Report, column 1462W, on English Heritage, if he will seek advice from the Chief Executive of English Heritage as to the reasons for English Heritage abandoning its regional structure.

Nick Raynsford: Following the recommendations of the 2002 quinquennial review, English Heritage is strengthening its regional presence. In addition to retaining its nine regional offices, English Heritage is appointing four new Territory Directors (north, south, east and west). This is intended to improve the regional focus of English Heritage activities and strengthen the relationship between national objectives and the needs of regions. It will also create efficiencies by rationalising property management and support functions.

Fire Service

Philip Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether it will be possible for fire authorities to repay transitional funding received from his Department in connection with the modernisation programme in the timescale originally required.

Nick Raynsford: The Government's position remains that the transitional funding should be repaid in full and within the Spending Review (SR2002) period. However, the Government recognises that there have been delays in the pay and modernisation process and that, among other things, this could mean that we will be seeking to recoup the transitional funding less than a year after it has been distributed to fire and rescue authorities. It is important that we get a clearer picture of the pressures fire and rescue authorities may face, and the extent to which they are making efficiency improvements. To this end the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Local Government Association and Chief Fire Officer Association officials are working to develop the evidence base.

Fire Service

Philip Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the implementation of the modernisation of working practices in the Fire Service will lead to the elimination of the provision of beds in fire stations.

Nick Raynsford: All Fire and Rescue Authorities are in the process of implementing their first year action plans according to Integrated Risk Management (IRM) principles and will start consulting on their year two plans shortly. IRM replaces the former centrally determined standards of fire cover that sometimes bore little or no relation to the current pattern of risk in a given area. Each authority has to consider the range of risks faced by the communities it serves and then allocate available resources to maximum benefit. As part of that process, authorities have been considering whether current working patterns adequately match the occurrence of incidents over the course of the day. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not expect that there will be a "one size fits all" solution and it will be for each authority to determine what use to make of downtime during the night hours and what rest facilities are appropriate.

Fire Service

Philip Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether it is his policy that new negotiating machinery for pay and conditions within the Fire Service must include representatives of fire service unions other than the Fire Brigade Union.

Nick Raynsford: It is the Government's policy, set out in the White Paper 'Our Fire and Rescue Service', that union participation in negotiating arrangements for the Fire and Rescue Service should be widened. We hope that voluntary reforms will achieve this. However, Government is seeking reserve powers under the Fire and Rescue Services Bill which would enable it to set up new statutory arrangements if voluntary reforms do not result in improvement.

Fire Service

Philip Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will rule out the use of TETRA technology for the delivery of the proposed Firelink Integrated Radio System for the Fire Service.

Nick Raynsford: No technology has been ruled out. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is conducting an open competition under EU procurement procedures.

Fire Service

Paul Flynn: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the (a) industrial and (b) employment implications of the bids for the Firelink contract.

Nick Raynsford: The Firelink contract has not reached the stage whereby bids are being evaluated. This is not expected to commence until later this year.

Housing

Philip Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what percentage of (a) privately owned non-rented housing stock, (b) privately owned rented housing stock and (c) publicly owned housing stock in each English region was estimated to be vacant at the most recent date for which data are available.

Keith Hill: The information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The nearest available data by private and social sector are in the following table. Registered Social Landlords are included in the social and not the private sector. This represents the latest data at the 1 April 2003.
	
		Percentage of dwelling stock vacant at 1 April 2003
		
			 Region Private sector Social sector 
		
		
			 North East 4.1 3.3 
			 North West 4.5 4.1 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 4.1 3.5 
			 East Midlands 3.3 2.6 
			 West Midlands 3.3 2.9 
			 East of England 2.9 1.5 
			 London 3.6 2.1 
			 South East 2.5 1.5 
			 South West 3.7 1.7 
			
			 England 3.5 2.6 
		
	
	Source:
	ODPM's Housing Investment Programme return and Housing Corporation's Regulatory Statistical return.

Housing

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what additional information he has requested from (a) the East Lancashire Partnership, (b) the local authorities in East Lancashire and (c) Elevate before he will consider releasing further resources to tackle housing market collapse in the area.

Keith Hill: Grant to 31 March 2006 towards the implementation of Elevate East Lancashire's market renewal scheme, aimed at tackling housing market collapse in the area, was announced in my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister's statement of 26 March 2004, Official Report, column 69WS.
	Subject to performance and the outcome of the spending review, proposals for further implementation of the scheme in later years will be invited in due course. It would be expected that the East Lancashire Partnership and the local authorities in the area would contribute to any proposal made by Elevate.

Housing

Richard Spring: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much housing funding has been allocated to (a) Forest Heath district council and (b) St. Edmundsbury borough council in each year since 1997.

Keith Hill: The Housing Capital Allocations given to Forest Heath district council and St. Edmundsbury borough council since 1997–98 are tabled as follows:
	
		Housing capital allocations(Housing Annual Capital Guidelines ACG) -- £000
		
			  Forest Heath St. Edmundsbury 
		
		
			 1997–98 310 869 
			 1998–99 277 719 
			 1999–2000 263 787 
			 2000–01 992 2,691 
			 2001–02 397 829 
			 2002–03 500 870 
			 2003–04 386 787 
			 2004–05(4) 322 478 
		
	
	(4) Renamed Supported Capital Expenditure (Revenue) SCE(R).

Housing Corporation

Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will place a copy of the Housing Corporation's London allocations statement for 2004 to 2006 in the Library.

Keith Hill: The Housing Corporation's London Allocation Statement for 2004–06 will be published shortly on the Housing Corporation's website www.housingcorp.gov.uk along with the allocation statements of the other regions. A copy will also be made available in the Library of the House.

Housing Corporation

Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the impact of the Housing Corporation's total cost indicator financing regime on the numbers of family-sized affordable homes being built in London;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on the Housing Corporation's new partnering regime for registered social landlords building new affordable housing; and what assessment he has made of the potential for greater flexibility in relation to total cost indicators.

Keith Hill: The Housing Corporation introduced Partnering Programme Agreements (PPAs) into the main Approved Development Programme (ADP) for the 2004–06 programme. PPAs do not use cost benchmarking (as in the TCI regime) and focus on levels of grant paid rather than overall costs to registered social landlords (RSLs). They are individually negotiated. Almost 80 per cent. of the ADP for 2004–06 has been allocated to some 70 RSLs or groups of RSLs under partnering. The introduction of partnering in the 2004–06 ADP encouraged RSLs to bring forward cost effective proposals.
	Total Cost Indicators (TCIs) have been used for the 20 per cent. of the 2004–06 ADP not allocated through partnering.
	Within the TCI regime, there should be no disincentive to develop larger dwellings as the TCIs increase with the size of the dwellings. The TCIs only provide an indication of the "norm" costs of providing a dwelling of a certain size in a certain area. If more than eight people are to be housed in a dwelling, then RSLs can apply an additional multiplier to raise the TCI to take account of the increased costs.
	In the ADP for 2004–06 the proportion on new build properties for rent of three beds or larger across London is around 26 per cent. of total dwellings.

Learning and Skills Councils

Philip Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress he has made in his discussions with the Secretary of State for Education and Skills on his proposals for devolving responsibility for learning and skills councils to the English regions.

Nick Raynsford: The learning and skills responsibilities of elected regional assemblies were set out in Chapter 4 of the White Paper, "Your Region, Your Choice: Revitalising the English Regions", published in May 2002 (Cm 5511).
	The Government have always made their intentions clear to publish a draft Bill on assemblies' powers, functions and structure before any referendums, to help inform people voting. We are on course to do this in July, subject to Parliament's view on the Orders providing for the referendums.

Local Government Reorganisation

Alan Beith: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether it is his intention that county council elections should take place in May 2005 in counties in which local government reorganisation is taking place as a consequence of the setting up of a regional assembly.

Nick Raynsford: Where following regional referendums the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is considering implementing any local government reorganisation, we shall need to consider the implications for the electoral cycles of the councils concerned. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will consult widely before pursuing any proposals to change a council's pattern of elections. In the meantime there are no proposals to change county council elections due to take place in May 2005.

Mobile Phone Emissions

David Amess: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent research his Department has commissioned into the health risks posed by (a) mobile telephone emissions and (b) mobile telephone mast emissions; and if he will make a statement.

Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not itself commission research into the health risks posed by mobile telephone technology. The Government have established the Mobile Telephone Health Research (MTHR) Programme, which is costing around £7.36 million, is funded jointly by Government and industry. The Department of Health and Department for Trade and Industry provide the secretariat for the programme. The programme is being directed and overseen by an independent management committee led by Professor Lawrie Challis OBE and made up of leading UK and international experts. It is carrying out research into the effects of mobile phone technology on health and encompasses handsets, base stations and emerging radio-based technologies. The process will ensure that Government and the public are kept up to date with new research findings.

New Developments (Landscaping)

Hugo Swire: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what discussions he has had with (a) developers and (b) local authorities about landscaping new developments.

Keith Hill: None. However, the Government recognise the important role of proper landscaping in the delivery of well-designed, high-quality and sustainable developments. Government planning policies have for some time emphasised the importance of good design; and in "By Design" and "Better Places to Live" we have issued good practice guidance on achieving good design, which includes advice on landscaping issues. And through establishing CABE Space we are ensuring that good design, management and maintenance of the whole built environment is increasingly built into the communities we create.

Northampton

Sally Keeble: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what change in addition to the natural population growth of Northampton he expects will take place as a result of the development proposed by the Government over the next (a) 10 and (b) 20 years.

Keith Hill: The draft Milton Keynes and South Midlands Sub-Regional Strategy proposed that some 26,400 houses should be built in Northampton between 2001 and 2021 (12,550 for 2001–11 and 13,850 for 2011–21). This included growth that was already planned for in Northampton.
	The additional growth is still subject to formal confirmation by inclusion in Regional Planning Guidance for the East Midlands. As the panel appointed to examine issues arising from the draft Strategy has not reported yet and figures are still subject to further public consultation no definite conclusions about additional population growth can currently be drawn.

Northampton

Sally Keeble: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimates he has made of the projected population change of Northampton over the next (a) 10 and (b) 20 years.

Keith Hill: The 1996-based sub-national population projections estimated that the population of Northampton would grow from 198,300 in 2001 to 210,500 in 2011 and 221,800 in 2021. The 2001 Census, however, recorded a figure of 194,458 for Northampton. New sub-national projections, based on the Census, which will replace the 1996-based projections, are expected to be issued in August.

Northampton

Sally Keeble: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimates he has made of the natural change in the population of Northampton, excluding people moving into the town, over the next (a) 10 and (b) 20 years.

Keith Hill: The 1996-based sub-national population projections estimated that the population of Northampton would grow from 198,300 in 2001 to 210,500 in 2011 and 221,800 in 2021.
	Of the estimated population growth between 2001 and 2011 an increase of about 7,000 was estimated to be due to natural increase. For the period 2011–21 the natural increase was estimated to be about 6,000.
	The 2001 Census, however, recorded a total population of 194,458 for Northampton. New sub-national projections, based on the Census, which will replace the 1996-based projections, are expected to be issued in August.

Planning Appeals

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 28 June 2004, Official Report, column 100W, what constitutes an enterprise for the purposes referred to.

Keith Hill: 'Enterprise' is not defined, but a good example of a situation where the financial viability of an enterprise is a relevant planning consideration is at Annex I of Planning Policy Guidance Note 7. This indicates that new permanent housing in the countryside cannot be justified on agricultural grounds unless (among other things) the farming enterprise is economically viable.

Regional Assemblies

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether it would be possible to hold the proposed referendums on regional assemblies using conventional voting in polling stations rather than all-postal voting.

Nick Raynsford: It is the Government's intention to hold the referendums by all-postal ballots. Orders to that effect were laid on Thursday, 24 June 2004. To hold referendums this autumn, as widely expected, and to allow an adequate campaigning period and timely public information, Parliament needs to approve those Orders before Summer recess.
	The Orders do not allow for the referendums to be held by traditional ballot. However, the draft Orders contain a requirement for one assistance and delivery point per 50,000 electors, to be open on polling day between 7am and 10pm and the preceding five working days for normal working hours. So, electors will have the choice as to whether to return their vote by post, to deliver it by hand, or to vote at a place supervised by electoral officials.

Regional Assemblies

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what information electors will receive with their ballot papers in the forthcoming referendums on the proposed regional assemblies.

Nick Raynsford: In addition to their ballot paper and security statement, electors would receive the following information—subject to parliamentary approval:
	Instructions to Voters, set out in Form 5 of the draft Regional Assembly and Local Government Referendums Order 2004; and,
	Explanatory material, which will describe the local government options using text and maps. The explanatory material will be set out in the draft Order, setting the date of the referendums and the local government options. The Government intends to lay this Order shortly.

Shared Ownership Housing

Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average price was of a 50 per cent. stake in a (a) one-bed, (b) two-bed and (c) three-bed shared ownership property in (i) Tower Hamlets, (ii) the East London sub-region, (iii) London and (iv) England in the latest year for which figures are available.

Keith Hill: The following table shows the average price of a 50 per cent. share in a shared ownership property, broken down by number of bedrooms, in Tower Hamlets, the East London sub-region, London and England in 2003–04.
	
		Shared ownership sales during 2003–04: average price paid for a 50 per cent. stake
		
			  One bedroom Two bedrooms Three bedrooms 
			  Number of sales Average price paid (£) Number of sales Average price paid (£) Number of sales Average price paid (£) 
		
		
			 Tower Hamlets 7 69,107 5 91,500 2 123,750 
			 East London sub-region 1 27 68,619 120 81,525 39 94,140 
			 London 165 75,751 331 83,582 89 98,932 
			 England 339 64,202 1,420 62,095 682 66,732 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Because the buyer took a 50 per cent. stake, the average price paid by the buyer represents one-half of the market price of the property.
	2. The sales included in the above figures comprise the following schemes:
	Do-It-Yourself Shared Ownership
	Shared Ownership for the Elderly
	Leasehold Schemes for the Elderly
	Ordinary Shared Ownership Schemes
	3. East London sub-region 1 is an amalgamation of Barking and Dagenham, Havering, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Redbridge, Waltham Forest.
	Source:
	Housing Corporation, CORE Sales.

Telecommunications Masts (Need and Safety Tests) Bill

David Amess: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations have been made to his Department from mobile telephone operators regarding the Telecommunications Masts (Need and Safety Tests) Bill; and if he will make a statement.

Keith Hill: No representations have been made to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister from mobile telephone operators regarding the Telecommunications Masts (Need and Safety Tests) Bill.

Vernacular Design

Hugo Swire: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what (a) discussions he has had with housebuilders and (b) guidelines he has issued on vernacular design.

Keith Hill: The Government have neither held discussions with housebuilders nor issued guidelines specifically on vernacular design. The Government are strongly in favour of promoting good design for the purpose of creating high quality, well-designed, sustainable places but do not believe that this is better achieved by favouring one architectural style over any other. Government planning policies have for some time emphasised this; and in "By Design" and "Better Places to Live" we have issued good practice guidance on achieving good design.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has also significantly increased sponsorship of the Commission of Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) which was created in 1999 to champion the cause of better design from £0.5 million in 2002–03 to £17.75 million over the next three years until 2005–06.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Adoption Cases

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills in how many cases in the area of (a) Cumbria county council, (b) Durham county council, (c) Northumberland county council, (d) Hartlepool council, (e) York city council, (f) Middlesbrough council, (g) Stockton council, (h) Sunderland city council, (i) Gateshead borough council, (j) Darlington unitary authority, (k) North Yorkshire county council, (l) Newcastle city council, (m) North Tyneside council, (n) South Tyneside council and (o) Redcar and Cleveland council a decision has been made to (i) authorise and (ii) encourage contact between birth parents and an adopted child following review after the judgment in R v. Cannings.

Margaret Hodge: Information about the decisions of the named local authorities in relation to their specific cases is not held centrally. Where the courts have previously made adoption orders, local authorities will no longer be exercising parental responsibility in relation to children who were their responsibility prior to the adoption. Thus, they will have no powers in relation to determining what contact should take place between adopted children and their birth parents. While, the courts may have made arrangements about contact between children and their birth parents at the time of the making of an adoption order, the responsibility for contact between adopted children and others then becomes a matter for their adoptive parents.

Adoption Cases

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children's cases are actively being reviewed following the ministerial announcement of a review on 23 February about the judgment in R v. Cannings in the area of the (a) Cumbria county council, (b) Durham county council, (c) Stockton council, (d) York city council, (e) Hartlepool council, (f) Middlesbrough council, (g) Darlington unitary authority, (h) Gateshead borough council, (i) Sunderland city council, (j) South Tyneside council, (k) North Tyneside county council, (l) Newcastle city council, (m) North Yorkshire county council, (n) Northumberland county council and (o) Redcar and Cleveland council social services department; and by what date the review of all potentially affected cases in Cumbria is expected to be complete in each case.

Margaret Hodge: In my statement to the House on 23 February 2004, Official Report, column 37, I made clear that I would be issuing guidance to local authorities about the review of cases. On 26 February 2004 I issued Local Authority Circular 2004(5), which asked local authorities to identify relevant cases either within a four-week period, where the cases were currently before the courts, or a 12-week period, where court orders (which were still in place) had already been made. The review period for the former group ended at the end of March 2004, while the review period for the latter group ended at the end of May 2004. Information derived from an ADSS survey of the former group was placed in the House Library on 17 June 2004. A further survey is to be undertaken of the latter group of cases, the results of which will also be placed in the Library. Specific information about individual local authorities is not available in relation to either survey.

Adoption Cases

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills in how many cases in the area of (a) Cumbria county council, (b) Durham county council, (c) Northumberland county council, (d) Stockton council, (e) Hartlepool council, (f) York city council, (g) Sunderland city council, (h) Gateshead borough council, (i) Middlesbrough borough council, (j) Darlington unitary authority, (k) North Yorkshire county council, (l) Redcar and Cleveland council, (m) Newcastle city council, (n) North Tyneside council and (o) South Tyneside council a decision has been made that a case should be returned to court for reconsideration following the judgment in R v. Cannings.

Margaret Hodge: Information about the number of cases returned to court by individual local authorities is not held centrally. The results of the ADSS survey of cases currently before the courts were placed in the Library of the House on 17 June 2004, as made clear in my written ministerial statement of that date. A further survey of past cases is to be undertaken by the ADSS, the results of which will also be published, later in the summer, by being placed in the House Library.

Adoption Cases

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills in how many cases in the area of (a) Cumbria county council, (b) Durham county council, (c) North Yorkshire county council, (d) Newcastle city council, (e) North Tyneside council, (f) South Tyneside council, (g) Sunderland city council, (h) Gateshead borough council, (i) Middlesbrough borough council, (j) Stockton council, (k) Hartlepool council, (l) York city council, (m) Darlington unitary authority, (n) Northumberland county council and (o) Redcar and Cleveland council a decision towards adoption has been reversed or varied in a case reviewed by the Criminal Cases Review Commission following the judgment in R v. Cannings.

Margaret Hodge: No information is held centrally about cases reviewed by the Criminal Cases Review Commission following the judgment in R v. Cannings. The Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers has written to the legal representatives of five convicted individuals, drawing to their attention the possibility of a referral being made to the Criminal Cases Review Commission. Information about the local authority areas of origin of the convicted people are not held centrally.

Adoption Cases

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills in how many cases in the area of (a) Cumbria county council, (b) North Yorkshire county council, (c) Sunderland city council, (d) Gateshead borough council, (e) Darlington unitary authority, (f) Middlesbrough borough council, (g) Hartlepool council, (h) York city council, (i) South Tyneside council, (j) Redcar and Cleveland council and (k) Northumberland county council a decision has been made to return a child to its birth parents following the judgment in R v. Cannings.

Margaret Hodge: The information requested is not held centrally. On 17 June 2004, the results of the first survey by the Association of Directors of Social Services (ADSS) were placed in the Library of the House of Commons. This revealed that in one case there had been a change in the care plan for a child following a local authority review in the light of the judgment in R v. Cannings. In a further 38 cases, it was not yet known whether the review would result in a change in the care plan. In a further eight cases, there had been no change in the care plan. Information about the identity of the local authorities involved in these cases is not held centrally.

Children's Services

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the capital costs of merging children's services; and what provision he has made in his departmental budget for such costs.

Margaret Hodge: No overall estimate of the capital costs of merging children's services has been made.
	A capital budget of £317.8 million is available to develop children's centres in the 20 per cent. most disadvantaged areas by March 2006. These centres will offer child care integrated with early education, health family and parenting support, Local authorities are developing them from a wide variety of existing provision such as Sure Start local programmes, early excellence centres, schools and health centres which also benefit from other sources of capital investment.
	£12.6 million was made available in 2003–04 and £23.8 million has been made available in 2004–05 to support the development of extended schools for schools to provide a range of children and family services on their premises. Up to 10 per cent. of this funding can be used for minor capital works schools need to undertake in order to house services.
	As part of Building Schools for the Future, we want to facilitate better joined-up planning and funding for extended schools and the co-location of services on school sites. Building Schools for the Future (BSF) will invest approximately £2.2 billion in secondary schools in 2005–06, and will contribute to the integrated children's services agenda by creating schools that are accessible to the wider community and which have flexible, multi-use areas that can be used by other services.
	In addition to BSF, the Government are allocating around £2.9 billion to schools and LEAs for investment in school buildings in 2005–06. LEAs and schools decide locally how to invest the bulk of this funding, and can invest it in extended schools facilities, community of use of facilities and integrating education and other local authority services and needs, where these are prioritised locally in asset management plans.

Church Schools

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what decisions have been taken by his Department about the capital financing of church schools.

David Miliband: Ministers are reviewing the capital funding of all maintained schools, including those that are voluntary aided (VA), as part of the process of agreeing the 2004 Spending Review settlement. We are also establishing a working group, comprising representatives of the VA sector, to review and consult on all elements of VA capital strategy and delivery.
	As part of the review we have agreed, with other shareholders (Partnerships UK and the Church of England's National Society) to move Partnerships for Church of England Schools (PfCS) into Partnerships for Schools (PFS). This will ensure a consistent approach, economies of scale and flexibility across all school sectors. We have agreed, as part of the move, to fund 13 school projects that were planned for investment in the first wave of the PfCS programme.

Church Schools

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what impact he expects the recent decision on the private finance initiative for church schools will have on the capital funding of redevelopment of church schools in Northampton as part of the town's schools' reorganisation.

David Miliband: None. The reorganisation involves eight voluntary aided schools and the Department continues to work with the local education authority and the relevant Dioceses to ensure that those schools are able to play their full part in the reorganisation. To date we have agreed funding of some £47 million for the schools concerned.

Dentistry

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the Research Assessment Exercise 2008; and whether it will take into account the clinical workload of dental clinical academics.

Alan Johnson: Following the wide ranging consultation on the review of research assessment carried out by Sir Gareth Roberts in 2003, the Higher Education Funding Council for England and the other UK funding bodies announced in February 2004 the format and timing of the next Research Assessment Exercise. The new RAE framework will retain the features which the majority supported in the consultation exercise. In addition, the new process will be designed to better recognise and assess excellence in applied research, including clinical work within the health professions. It remains the responsibility of individual institutions to determine and plan the management of staff on research strategy, including workload and submissions to the RAE.

Departmental Spending

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions he has had with (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) Sir Peter Gershon regarding the scope for reducing administration spending in his Department.

Charles Clarke: There have been a range of discussions on this topic both at ministerial and official level.

Departmental Staff

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total amount paid by his Department to employment agencies for the supply of temporary staff was in financial year 2003–04.

Charles Clarke: The following table gives the figures for the total expenditure in my Department on agency staff in the financial year 2003–04.
	
		£
		
			 Financial year Agency spend for the financial year 
		
		
			 2003–04 2,341 814.06

Dyslexia

Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to improve the screening and assessment of children for dyslexia.

Margaret Hodge: When dealing with dyslexia, as with other recognised special educational needs conditions, schools and local authorities are expected to have regard to the SEN Code of Practice, published in November 2001, which gives practical advice on carrying out their statutory duties to identify, assess and make suitable provision for children with SEN. However, the precise arrangements for any screening and assessment arrangements are for local determination.
	The National Literacy Strategy includes a range of specific guidance material for teachers and SEN Co-ordinators on dyslexia. Officials are currently working with both the Dyslexia Institute and the British Dyslexia Association to develop new resources in this area. The Department has also supported a number of initiatives aimed at raising awareness to help teachers to identify pupils with dyslexia and to take appropriate action at an early stage.
	The Government's recently published Strategy for SEN, 'Removing Barriers to "Achievement", sets out a long term vision for SEN, together with a programme of sustained action and review, both nationally and locally. Among the initiatives outlined in the Strategy is a new Inclusion Development Programme to help schools become more effective in responding to the needs of individual pupils. The programme will support partnership projects involving education, health and social care, as well as a wide range of other partners, to develop and pilot effective practice. The aim is to improve the evidence base about what works and build consensus about how to implement good practice more effectively for particular types of SEN including dyslexia.

Education (Isle of Wight)

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions he has had with the Isle of Wight council about changes to the structure of education on the island; and what funding streams are available to meet costs associated with restructuring, broken down by (a) grants and (b) loans.

David Miliband: The Secretary of State has had no discussions with representatives of Isle of Wight LEA about the structure of education on the island. The organisation of schools is a matter for the LEA. If changes are proposed these will be decided under local decision making arrangements and Ministers have no powers to intervene.
	Capital funding is available to support school reorganisation where this is a local priority. The bulk of capital funding is now allocated to LEAs and schools by needs-related formula so that they can decide how to target the increasing resources which they are now receiving to address their highest priority needs. The funding available also includes Building Schools for the Future, where the government are committed to renewal of all secondary schools in England within 10–15 years from 2005–06, subject to future public spending decisions. All authorities will be given an indication of the likely timing of investment in their area in the autumn. Capital funding is now delivered as PFI credits, capital grant and supported borrowings. The balance of what sort of funding is delivered to any authority will depend on the funding available and local circumstances.

Nursery Education

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  which neighbourhood nursery projects he has funded; and which have subsequently closed;
	(2)  what his target is for (a) the number of new neighbourhood nurseries to be set up in the next five years and (b) the number of children they will cater for;
	(3)  what assessment of sustainability is made for new neighbourhood nursery projects before funding is granted;
	(4)  how much money has been spent on neighbourhood nurseries since their inception, expressed (a) in cash terms and (b) per place created;
	(5)  what his plans are for (a) future funding and (b) expansion of the qualifying criteria for neighbourhood nurseries.

Margaret Hodge: 1,145 neighbourhood nurseries are open, providing 39,584 places. No neighbourhood nurseries have so far closed.
	We are committed to delivering 45,000 high quality places through neighbourhood nurseries and are on target to do so by the end of summer 2004. There are no plans to develop further neighbourhood nurseries. Instead, our future focus is on the development of children's centres, which build on existing provision such as Sure Start local programmes, neighbourhood nurseries, Early Excellence centres and maintained nursery schools. In the current spending review period we plan to develop children's centres and 43,000 new full day care places in disadvantaged areas.
	To ensure sustainability all providers wishing to develop a neighbourhood nursery were required to submit a five-year business plan to their local authority at the planning stage. The business plan contains sustainability plans including the establishment of a viable fee structure and identification of other relevant sources of funding and support that will help sustain nursery after the initial three-year funding period. £31 million sustainability funding through the Sustainability Grant is also available for local authorities to support provision in the most disadvantaged areas and they can choose to use this money to support neighbourhood nurseries if necessary.
	£100 million from the New Opportunities Fund and £25 million from the Department for Education and Skills has been allocated to projects as capital to help build and refurbish premises where necessary. Financial figures are not collected with the same frequency as nursery opening figures. The latest figures which enable us to compare finance and nursery openings show around £84.5 million has so far been allocated to local authorities for 1,088 open neighbourhood nursery projects at an average of £2,272 capital per neighbourhood nursery place.
	£246 million has been allocated by the Department for Education and Skills to cover revenue funding for neighbourhood nursery projects. Each neighbourhood nursery is entitled to a maximum of £5,400 per neighbourhood nursery place, which is paid over three years. The Sure Start unit has agreed to some projects converting some of this revenue to capital money, and as a result, based on the 1,088 open nurseries, around £182.5 million is due over their first three years of operation working out at an average of £4,906 per place.
	Once the remaining neighbourhood nurseries in development are open the full capital and revenue budgets will be spent.

Pupil Statistics

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of pupils aged 11 to 18 attend schools catering for (a) seven to 11, (b) seven to 13, (c) five to eight, (d) four to seven, (e) nine to 13 and (f) other year groups in each local education authority.

David Miliband: holding answer 29 June 2004
	The available information has been placed in the House of Commons Library.

Socially Disadvantaged Learners

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans the Learning and Skills Council has to fund college nurseries for socially disadvantaged learners.

Margaret Hodge: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council. Mark Haysom, the Council's Chief Executive, will write to the hon. Member with this information and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.

Special Educational Needs

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the number of children with special educational needs who are not in school but are awaiting an appropriate placement.

Margaret Hodge: holding answer 24 June 2004
	The information requested is not held centrally. However, of the 28,100 children for whom new statements were issued last year, some 800 were being educated other than in school, approximately:
	100 pupils were permanently excluded and waiting for placement;
	300 were the subject of alternative arrangements made by their local education authorities;
	200 were the subject of other arrangements made by their parents; and 200 were waiting for provision.

CABINET OFFICE

Civil Servants

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many civil servants were recruited in the last 12 months.

Douglas Alexander: Information on numbers of civil servants recruited in the last 12 months is not yet available. The most recent numbers available relate to the period ending April 2002. Numbers recruited to April 2003 will be available later in summer 2004.
	A breakdown of numbers of civil servants recruited is published annually in Civil Service Statistics. Table I shows the number of Permanent Entrants to the Civil Service. Copies of Civil Service Statistics are available in the Library and at www.civil-service.gov.uk/statistics.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Electoral Register

Steve Webb: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will make it his policy to ensure that, for future elections, marked electoral registers are available which indicate (a) which voters voted in person and (b) which voters used postal votes.

Christopher Leslie: Registers marked to show who has been issued with a ballot paper at a polling station are already compiled. We are examining carefully the proposal to mark registers to indicate the return of postal ballot papers, as part of our consideration of a number of options for electoral reform.

FOI (Charges)

Norman Baker: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will take steps to ensure that charges for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 do not have a deterrent effect on the volume of requests likely to be made.

David Lammy: The Government have stated that a fee structure that acted as a significant deterrent to people making use of their rights under the Act would go against the spirit and purpose of the Act.

Magistrates

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans the Government have to provide more training to magistrates on community sentences.

Christopher Leslie: The Judicial Studies Board (JSB) is developing a national training programme in respect of the changes arising out of the implementation of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, including the new provisions for community sentences. This programme will include training materials for magistrates and their legal advisers supported by training courses for MCC trainers.
	Statutory responsibility for the training of magistrates currently rests with the 42 independent Magistrates Courts Committees (MCCs). In court lay magistrates sit with their justices clerk or a legal adviser. The justices clerk has a statutory duty to provide advice to the magistrates on questions of law, practice and procedure. This will include advice on applying any case law and relevant Court of Appeal judgments when making decisions on sentence.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Alcohol Advertising

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions her Department has had with Ofcom regarding the fundamental review of alcohol advertising recommended in the Government's Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy; when she expects Ofcom to initiate the review; and if she will make a statement.

Estelle Morris: The Department has had a number of discussions with Ofcom concerning their work to review the rules on broadcast advertising for alcoholic drinks as recommended in the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England published by the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit. I understand that Ofcom are currently considering possible changes to the relevant rules in the light both of academic research and specially commissioned studies; and that Ofcom intend to consult on any proposed changes this summer.

Historic Environment

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what conclusions have been reached by Green Ministers in relation to the commitment in "The Historic Environment: A Force For Our Future", to extend her remit to include the historic environment.

Estelle Morris: Green Ministers have added the historic environment to their remit.

Playing Fields

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the Oral Answer, 28 June 2004, Official Report, column 6 on playing fields, to which cricket pitch in Blaby constituency the right hon. Member for Sheffield, Central was referring.

Richard Caborn: The cricket pitch is located in Narborough and was originally part of the Carlton Park hospital.

Playing Fields

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many school playing fields have been lost in East Devon in the past five years.

Richard Caborn: The Department only gathers statistics on planning applications relating to school playing fields, not those that have been lost.
	Over the past five years, Sport England has received no planning applications for development on school playing fields in East Devon.

World Heritage Sites

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the world heritage sites in the UK.

Richard Caborn: pursuant to his reply, 30 June 2004, Official Report, c. 309W
	The UK has 25 World Heritage Sites of which 22 are located within the UK mainland.
	I regret that in my previous answer the table omitted to include Durham Cathedral and Castle and Fountains Abbey, St. Mary's Church and Studley Royal Park.
	An amended list giving a breakdown of these sites and the years in which they were inscribed is in the following table.
	
		
			 Date of inscription World Heritage Site 
		
		
			 1986 Durham Cathedral and Castle 
			 1986 Fountains Abbey, St. Mary's Church and Studley Royal Park 
			 1986 Ironbridge Gorge 
			 1986 Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites 
			 1987 Blenheim Palace and Park 
			 1987 Palace of Westminster, St. Margaret's Church and Westminster Abbey 
			 1987 City of Bath 
			 1987 Hadrian's Wall 
			 1989 The Tower of London 
			 1988 Canterbury Cathedral (with St. Augustine's Abbey and St. Martin's Church) 
			 1986 Castle and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd 
			 1986 St. Kilda 
			 1986 Giant's Causeway and Causeway coast 
			 1996 Edinburgh Old and New Towns 
			 1997 Maritime Greenwich 
			 1999 Heart of Neolithic Orkney 
			 2000 Blaenavon Industrial Landscape 
			 2001 Dorset and East Devon Coast 
			 2001 Derwent Valley Mills 
			 2001 New Lanark 
			 2001 Saltaire 
			 2003 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

WALES

Milton Haven

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the proposed upgrade on the liquefied natural gas handling facility at Milton Haven's vulnerability to terrorist attack; what steps his Department has taken to develop an appropriate anti-terrorism strategy to help protect the new facility; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: I have been asked to reply.
	The Department for Transport's Transport Security Directorate (TRANSEC) are aware of this proposed project. If the development goes ahead, TRANSEC inspectors will work with company management to ensure that appropriate security measures are incorporated. The requirements would also be laid down in their Port Facility Security Plans.

TRANSPORT

Motoring Offences (New EU Members)

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what his Department's policy is towards persons from the new EU member states driving in the United Kingdom without insurance; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what sanctions can be taken against persons from the new EU member states driving in the United Kingdom without insurance;
	(3)  what plans he has to reduce the number of motoring offences being committed by persons from the new EU member states;
	(4)  what his Department's policy is towards persons from the new EU member states driving in the United Kingdom without a licence; and whether he will make a statement;
	(5)  what sanctions can be taken against persons from the new EU member states driving in the United Kingdom without a licence;
	(6)  what sanctions can be taken against persons from the new EU member states who drive without due care and attention in the United Kingdom.

David Jamieson: The Government's policy towards persons in the United Kingdom driving without insurance, driving without a licence, and driving without due care and attention, is to apply the requirements and sanctions contained in legislation. For Great Britain, that legislation is the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988. The provisions apply to persons from the new EU member states as to other drivers. For Northern Ireland, similar provisions exist in Northern Ireland law.
	As regards offenders with no fixed address in the United Kingdom, the Government recognise that there are practical difficulties relating to their prosecution, as they are likely to leave the UK to return to their home states and cannot be compelled to return. There are also practical difficulties relating to the application of the fixed penalty system to them. The Government are examining ways of improving the effectiveness of the system.
	No special provisions are made in respect of drivers from the new EU member states. Under the second EC Directive on Driving Licences (91/439/EEC) full mutual recognition was granted to all driving licences issued in EEA countries and the minimum testing and medical standards that must be met before a licence is issued were harmonised. From 1 May 2004, this recognition extends to licences issued in the accession statesas does the requirement to meet the minimum testing and medical standards.

Motoring Offences (New EU Members)

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his Department's policy is towards persons from the new EU member states who drive vehicles registered in their own states in the United Kingdom, whose maintenance standards do not meet those required for British registered vehicles; what sanctions can be taken against these persons; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: All vehicles have to comply with minimum standards of roadworthiness irrespective of the country in which they are registered. If they do not their drivers and operators can be prosecuted and fined. The vehicle can also be prohibited from moving until necessary repairs have been carried out.

A344

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will close with immediate effect, on safety grounds, the A344 at its junction with the A303(T) at Stonehenge.

David Jamieson: The Highways Agency has responsibility for the A303(T) road and has no plans to close this junction. Traffic management at the junction is constantly under review and recent improvements have been made. All traffic entering the trunk road from the A344 can now only turn leftavoiding a turn across fast moving traffic. The A344 is the responsibility of Wiltshire county council and any closure in relation to this road would have to be undertaken by them.
	The construction of the A303 Stonehenge improvement will remove the junction of the A344 and the A303. Subject to the outcome of statutory procedures and the availability of funds construction of this scheme could start in the spring of 2005.

A46/M5/M50/A40

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reasons the Highways Agency is not holding public meetings in Droitwich and Worcester as part of its consultation on the A46/M5/M50/A40 route management study.

David Jamieson: In deciding where to hold exhibitions the Highways Agency considers the resources required against the likely level of response. Where sections of motorway are involved there is generally a much better response to information leaflets and questionnaires than to exhibitions. These are used where the route passes through communities.

A46/M5/M50/A40

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport who is being invited to participate in the Highways Agency's consultation on the A46/M5/M50/A40 route management strategy; and how the consultation is being publicised.

David Jamieson: The Highways Agency is consulting both interested authorities and individuals who live near or use the A46, A40 trunk roads, the M5 (Junctions 59) and the M50, for their views on its proposed Route Management Strategy (RMS).
	The consultation process has been publicised through a wide variety of media and communications outlets, including leaflets and questionnaires.

Airport Security

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what promotional material relating to airport security was prepared by his Department, its predecessors and agencies and offered for potential broadcast (a) on TV, (b) on radio and (c) in cinemas since 11 September 2000; what has been broadcast by whom and when; which (i) programmes, (ii) companies and (iii) organisations have refused to broadcast such material; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The Department has not produced any promotional material relating to airport security for potential broadcast on TV, radio and in cinemas. Airports/airlines however have provided passengers with information on security related issues, for example, items that are not allowed in hand luggage.

Aviation Fuel

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the annual (a) tonnes of aviation fuel consumed and (b) carbon emissions resulting from the circling of aircraft over London while in holding patterns.

Tony McNulty: Assessments of this nature tend to be undertaken at the international level on account of the structure of the industry. The IPCC Special Report on Aviation and the Global Atmosphere (1999) noted that enhanced air traffic management had the potential to lead to a global fuel saving of between 6 per cent. and 12 per cent. of total fuel consumption. Estimates of fuel savings include inefficiencies linked to airspace structure and current management practices as well as the more local phenomenon of holding due to airport congestion. Implementation of the EC Single European Sky initiative, which came into force on the 20 April 2004, should lead to more direct routing and consequential fuel savings, estimated to be of the order of 10 per cent. The UK has also supported the production and promulgation of guidance from the International Civil Aviation Organisation entitled Operational Opportunities to Minimise Fuel Use and Reduce Emissions (Circular 303, February 2004).

Aviation Fuel

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether (a) he and (b) other EU member states raised, at the Transport Council on 11 June (i) taxation options for aviation fuel and (ii) an emissions trading regime for aviation.

Tony McNulty: These issues were not discussed at Transport Council on 11 June. However, emissions trading is under active consideration at official level, and we will be working at all levels over the coming months to promote the Government's policy on this subject.

British Transport Police

Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will propose legislation to extend permanently the jurisdiction of the British Transport Police.

Tony McNulty: With effect from 1 July 2004, the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003 provides the British Transport Police with a wholly statutory jurisdiction over railway property throughout Great Britain. It provides BTP constables with all the powers and privileges of a Home Office police constable when they are on the railways. The Act also provides for BTP's jurisdiction to extend outside railway property on all matters connected to the railways.
	The British Transport Police also have jurisdiction outside the railways on non-railway matters. This jurisdiction is provided by the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. This Act allows a British Transport Police officer to act as a constable anywhere in Great Britain when asked for assistance by a local police officer, or in an emergency. The Government has welcomed the endorsement of the provisions that extend BTP's jurisdiction in limited circumstances by the Privy Counsellor Committee which reviewed the Act. At this time, the Government does not consider it necessary to introduce any further legislation in respect of BTP's jurisdiction but, as recommended by the Committee, the Government is content to revisit, the BTP provisions in the Act when a suitable legislative vehicle becomes available.

Bus Sector

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures he has taken since October 2003 to disseminate good practice in the bus sector to (a) individual authorities, (b) bus companies, (c) regulators and (d) professional and trade bodies, including trade unions; what the (i) cost and (ii) means of dissemination were; what assessment has been made in each case; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: Publications since my Written Answer to the hon. Member for Bath (Don Foster) on 28 October 2003, Official Report, columns 14243W, include the following:
	(a) Rural Bus Service Provision, drawing on experience with Rural Bus Grant and the Rural Bus Challenge, and aimed at local authority officers and elected Members, transport operators and other local interest groups;
	(b) Protecting bus and coach crews, which advises bus drivers and crews, operators and local authorities on measures they can take to reduce the incidence and fear of crime and anti-social behaviour in bus travel;
	(c) Ticketing templates. On behalf of the Bus Partnership Forum, the Department has published models of multi-operator ticketing agreements based on ones that have been approved by the Office of Fair Trading, with the aim of encouraging other such agreements being made.
	The guidance on local authority procurement of local bus services, referred to in the previous answer, is still in preparation.
	The Department intends to publish guidance later this year on applications by local authorities for quality contracts schemes under the Transport Act 2000 and is about to consult on a draft of this guidance.
	In April 2004 the Government announced the award of Beacon Council status to six local authorities under the theme of Better Local Public Transport. Each of the six authorities has demonstrated excellence in improving public transport in its area, and partnership working with local bus operators accounts for a large part of this. The six authorities are undertaking a series of events with the support of the Improvement and Development Agency specifically designed to enable them to spread their good practice to other authorities. The first of these events, at which I will be speaking, is a National Learning Exchange on 14 July.

Bus Sector

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures he has taken to encourage (a) local authorities and (b) bus companies to promote the use of quality bus partnerships and corridors; and if he will list the (i) local authorities and (ii) bus companies involved in quality bus partnerships and corridors, (A) number of passengers carried (1) before and (2) after implementation, (B) number of services run and (C) length of the schemes involved.

Tony McNulty: I regularly encourage local authorities and bus companies to work together in partnership and am pleased that the majority of local transport authorities in England are involved in one or more voluntary quality bus partnership agreements. Many such agreements comprise one or more bus corridor improvements. Because these agreements are voluntary there is no requirement to report them and the comprehensive information requested is not available. Local transport in Wales and Scotland is a matter for the devolved Administrations.
	The Department provides funding to English local authorities for bus priority measures such as quality bus corridors. Funding provided in 200304 was forecast to deliver over 1,300 kilometres of improved bus routes in that year.
	In September 2003 the Bus Partnership Forum published an information pack Bus Priority: The Way Ahead to help local authorities get the most out of bus priority measures including bus corridors. Further leaflets are being produced to be added to this pack and will be published within the next few months.
	Research shows that quality partnership schemes typically increase bus patronage by between 5 per cent. and 20 per cent. within the first 12 months of operation. These schemes also contribute towards modal shift, with surveys showing that around 33 per cent. of new users had previously undertaken their journey by car.

Bus/Coach Accidents

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) fatal, (b) serious and (c) slight injuries there were to seated bus and coach passengers in Great Britain over the last 10 years.

David Jamieson: The number of seated bus and coach passengers injured in road accidents in the last 10 years is shown in the following table.
	
		Seated bus and coachlpassenger casualties, by severity:GB 19942003
		
			  Killed Serious Slight All 
		
		
			 1994 11 311 4,946 5,268 
			 1995 26 336 4,313 4,675 
			 1996 4 258 4,715 4,977 
			 1997 6 198 4,766 4,970 
			 1998 7 224 5,011 5,242 
			 1999 3 240 5,376 5,619 
			 2000 7 233 5,262 5,502 
			 2001 1 197 5,188 5,386 
			 2002 8 207 4,635 4,850 
			 2003 0 172 4,826 4,998 
		
	
	(5) Vehicles equipped to carry 17 or more passengers regardless of use, excludes PSV licensed minibuses.

Bus/rail Services

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what statistics he collects on (a) integrated bus/rail links and services, (b) hail-and-ride services and (c) combined ticketing for bus, rail and taxi journeys.

Tony McNulty: No statistics are collected on integrated bus/rail links and services (a), or on hail-and-ride services (b) . Whilst there is no combined bus, rail and taxi ticket (c) , there is a combined bus and rail ticket available. PlusBus is a ticket that provides a simple add-on bus option to rail tickets at either or both ends of a train journey. The PlusBus scheme is run by Journey Solutions, a group set up by the passenger transport industry, and can currently be used at 176 stations nationwide. A further 11 stations plan to join the scheme in July, with an additional 16 planned for September.
	The DfT does not collect data on the PlusBus scheme directly, but instead is supplied regularly with the information by Journey Solutions.

Channel Tunnel Rail Link

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the procurement programme for domestic rolling stock on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.

Tony McNulty: DfT is working with the SRA and the rolling stock company to ensure proposals offer good value for money. We will make an announcement as soon as possible.

Collisions

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many incidents of motor vehicles colliding with trains on railway lines there were in each year since 1 April 2001; and in which locations the collisions took place.

Tony McNulty: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has provided the following information on the number of incidents involving motor vehicles colliding with trains for the period 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2004 in the following table.
	
		
			  200102 200203 200304 1 
		
		
			 Road vehicles colliding with trains at level crossings 15 19 18 
			 Road vehicles colliding with trains resulting in the train derailing 4 3 3 
			 Trains colliding with road vehicles not at level crossings 5 4 3 
			 Total 24 26 24 
		
	
	(6) Provisional and subject to change.
	The data are based on incidents, reportable by the railways to HSE's Railway Inspectorate (HMRI) under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR 95). A list of the locations of where these incidents occurred, compiled by the HSE, has been placed in the House Library.

Commuters (Public Sector)

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will estimate the proportion of public sector workers who commuted to work via public transport in each year since 1992.

Tony McNulty: The table gives the proportion of public sector workers In the UK who commuted to work by public transport in each year since 1993. The data are derived from the Labour Force Survey. Figures for 1992 are not available on the same basis.
	
		
			  Percentage commuting by public transport 
		
		
			 1993 14 
			 1994 13 
			 1995 13 
			 1996 13 
			 1997 13 
			 1998 13 
			 1999 13 
			 2000 12 
			 2001 13 
			 2002 13 
			 2003 13 
		
	
	Source:
	Labour Force Survey

Departmental Expenditure

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will estimate his departmental underspend in the financial year 200304, broken down by (a) resource, (b) capital expenditure and (c) consumption of resource type; and where this underspend has been or will be allocated.

Tony McNulty: The Department's estimated outturn relative to final provision for Resource and Capital Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL) is shown in Tables 2.4 and 2.5, respectively, of Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2004 (Cm 6201).
	Provisional outturn will be published next month in Public Expenditure 200304 Provisional Outturn, which will also include details of the unspent DEL from 200304 and prior years that the Department is entitled to carry forward under the End Year Flexibility (EYF) scheme. Any allocation of EYF to particular programmes in 200405 will be set out in the Department's Supplementary Estimates and associated DEL Written Statements.

Deprived Areas

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much public money has been invested in transport provision for deprived areas in each of the last five years.

Tony McNulty: The Department for Transport does not collate or hold financial information in the format requested.

Driving Instructors

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many accredited driving instructors there were in each year since 2000.

David Jamieson: The number of Approved Driving Instructors on the statutory Register at the end of each financial year was:
	
		
			  
		
		
			 19992000 29,103 
			 200001 29,626 
			 200102 29,962 
			 200203 31,807 
		
	
	Provisional figures for 20032004 suggest 33,000 registered instructors. The actual figure will be in the Driving Standards Agency's Annual Report and Accounts, which will be published later this year.

DVLA

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency's automatic number plate reader project.

David Jamieson: DVLA ANPR cameras, which detect unlicensed vehicles on the move, were introduced in October 2001. 15 of these van-based systems, which are operated by DVLA staff, are deployed across the country. The system can be deployed in minutes on bridges and in lay-bys and can read all types of GB and Northern Ireland plates, whether on the front or rear of a vehicle. Plates can be read in all but the most extreme weather conditions, and also in heavy or fast moving traffic. The system operates in conjunction with the police during DVLA's Vehicle Excise Duty campaigns.

DVO Blueprint

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps his Department has taken to implement the DVO Blueprint Strategy and Work Programme; and what assessment has been made of its implementation.

David Jamieson: The DVO Blueprint was the report which provided the basis of the coherent, forward looking, customer-focused business strategy now being adopted by the DfTs Driver, Vehicle and Operator Group. Key measures implemented as a result of that work include the re-constitution of the DVO Board under a non-executive chairman with business experience, the appointment of a Director-General to lead and co-ordinate the development of the Group, the delivery of the first tranche of electronic service delivery including Driver Test Bookings, Operator Licensing and Electronic Vehicle Licensing and the motorists franchise of the new Direct.gov service. It continues to form the strategic basis for enabling the Agencies within the Group to work closely together to deliver improved customer service, greater efficiency and even more effective enforcement.

Freight Facilities Grant

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much track access grant aid was paid to freight operators, broken down by company, in each year since 200102 (a) at current prices and (b) at outturn prices.

Tony McNulty: The aggregate of track access grant payments by year is provided below. Details by operator are confidential.
	
		
			   Year Constant prices  million (200304 as base year)  Outturn prices  million 
		
		
			 200102 21.1 19.9 
			 200203 21.6 20.8 
			 200304 16.8 16.8

Hazard Perception Testing

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the introduction of hazard perception testing for accredited driving instructors.

David Jamieson: Hazard perception testing has been part of the qualification process for learner car, lorry and bus drivers, motorcyclists and prospective driving instructors and examiners since November 2002. We are planning to introduce HPT, along with multiple-choice questions of knowledge and understanding, into the assessment of registered driving instructors later this year.
	The periodic re-assessment of driving instructors is already provided for in their registration scheme. We shall use the modern, computer-based assessment to check that instructors have kept up to date with the modern syllabus for learning to drive and can demonstrate high levels of hazard perception skills.

Hazard Perception Testing

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of hazard perception testing in improving road safety.

David Jamieson: Hazard perception testing for learner car, lorry and bus drivers, motorcyclists and prospective driving instructors and examiners was introduced in November 2002 as part of the qualifying theory test. Research was undertaken over a 10 year period by the Transport Research Laboratory in advance of introduction of the test into the importance of hazard awareness in collision prevention. This indicated that performance in tests of hazard perception improved as experience is gained and that three hours of focused training could improve a new driver's hazard awareness to the average of experienced drivers.
	While it is too early to make an assessment on the effect of introducing the test on the number of road casualties, recent research involving test candidates indicates that their perception is that the test will be beneficial for road safety.

Hazardous Loads (Incidents)

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list occasions on which an incident occurred involving trains or road vehicles carrying (a) hazardous substances and (b) nuclear flasks since 200001.

David Jamieson: The number of road incidents, relating to the carriage of hazardous substances, that were notified to the Health and Safety Executive under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 for the past three years is:
	
		
			  200001 200102 200203 
		
		
			 Overturning or serious damage to a tank while conveying by road prescribed dangerous substances, or the uncontrolled release or fire involving the substance being conveyed 30 23 25 
			 Uncontrolled release or escape of a dangerous substance, or a fire involving the dangerous substance, when being conveyed by road in a vehicle 48 72 64 
		
	
	Additionally there were two rail incidents recorded one in each of the years 200001 and 200102, relating to the carriage of dangerous goods (hazardous substances). Figures for 200304 are not yet available.
	The incidents involving the transport of irradiated nuclear fuel flasks (including empty flasks) by rail were as follows:
	
		
			  200001 200102 200203 
		
		
			 Low speed collisions and derailments 1 0 1 
			 Excess surface contamination 12 16 2 
			 Other non-compliancies (including documentation errors) 2 2 1 
		
	
	There were no incidents involving the transport of such flasks by road.
	Reports on accidents and incidents involving the transport of radioactive material in the UK, by all modes of transport, for the years 2000, 2001 and 2002 are in the House Library and on the Departmental website. The report covering events during 2003 will be published in late 2004 and the report for events this year will be published in late 2005.

Island Line

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has for the future of Island Line following (a) the termination of the current franchise in 2007 and (b) the end of life of the existing 1938 rolling stock.

Tony McNulty: The Island Line franchise runs to 2007, and the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) is considering requirements beyond that date. The line has been proposed as a pilot project under the SRA's recently launched strategy for Community Rail Development, and this may be reflected in the specification for the franchise beyond 2007. The rolling stock has just received a major overhaul and should be adequate until the franchise is re-let.

Island Line

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he plans to change the per passenger subsidy to Island Line.

Tony McNulty: No. The Island Line franchise runs to 2007 and subsidy payments are contractually committed until then. The Strategic Rail Authority is considering requirements beyond that date.

Local Transport Plans

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which local authorities have set targets for the overall level of road traffic in their area as part of their full local transport plans; and what targets were set in each case for traffic reduction, in each year since the Road Traffic Reduction Act 1997 came into force.

Tony McNulty: There has only been one round of production of local transport plans since the Road Traffic Reduction Act 1997 came into force. The following local authorities have set targets to reduce overall levels of road traffic in their area as part of their full local transport plan:
	
		
			 Local authority Target 
		
		
			 Greater Nottingham Restrict traffic growth to 5 per cent. between 200106 
			 Durham Restrict growth to 0.33 per cent. by 2006 
			 Hartlepool Limit growth to 5 per cent. between 2000 and 2005 
			 Northumberland Reduce the rate of growth to 13 per cent. by 201 1 
			 Redcar and Cleveland Maximum of 1 per cent. growth in traffic flows 
			 Tyne and Wear Limit growth to 2.524bn vehicle kilometres by 2006 
			 Stockton-on-Tees Limit growth to 4.5 per cent. between 2000 and 2005 
			 Cheshire Restrict growth to 15 per cent. between 1995 and 2011 
			 Greater Manchester Restrict growth to 8 per cent. by 200506 
			 Lancashire Restrict growth to less than 5 per cent. between 200106 
			 Merseyside Maximum growth of 20.8 per cent. by 2006 
			 Warrington 43 per cent. reduction in growth by 2011 
			 Bracknell Forest Restrict growth to 14 per cent. by 2006 
			 Hampshire Halve forecast rate of growth by 2020 to 21 per cent. 
			 Oxfordshire Restrict growth to 1 per cent. per annum between 200015 
			 Slough Restrict growth to 0.6 per cent. per annum 
			 Surrey Restrict traffic growth to 0.6 per cent. by 2016 
			 West Sussex Restrict rate of growth by 50 per cent. by 2016 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead Restrict increase in growth to 6 per cent. by 2006 
			 Bournemouth and Poole Reduce traffic growth by 50 per cent. by 2006 
			 Bristol Reduce traffic growth by 20 per cent. by 2005 
			 Gloucestershire 15 per cent. maximum traffic growth by 2006 
			 South Gloucestershire Limit growth to 7 per cent. by 2006 
			 Stoke-on-Trent Restrict traffic growth to 10 per cent. between 1999 and 2011 
			 Telford and Wrekin Reduce traffic growth by 1.6 per cent. a year by 2010 
			 West Midlands Restrict traffic growth to between 10 per cent. to 13.5 per cent. by 2006 
			 Kingston-on-Hull Reduce traffic growth by 1 per cent. per annum 
			 North East Lincolnshire Zero growth in traffic levels by 2010 
			 South Yorkshire Keep traffic levels at cordons to maximum of 713,053 vehicles 
			 West Yorkshire Traffic growth to not exceed 5 per cent. by 2006.

Motorcycling

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the (a) benefits and (b) value for money of each of the motorcycling task groups; what the outcome of each task group was; and when the task groups met.

David Jamieson: The Advisory Group on Motorcycling established five task forces to consider integration and traffic management, vehicle safety and security, environmental and fiscal issues, research, and statistics. They have been meeting as necessary since 1999. Their initial work was detailed in the Interim Report of the Advisory Group on Motorcycling published in April 2001 (and placed in the House Library).
	The work of the Advisory Group is nearing completion and its final report will be published during summer. The task forces will be making recommendations to Government based on the outcome of their work; these will be included in the report. However it would be difficult to assess the value for money of the task forces. The nature of their work does not involve specific costs and benefits which can be quantified. But the work of the Advisory Group is highly valued by Government arid will be an essential input to the Government's future motorcycling strategy.

National Travel Survey

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average (a) number and (b) distance of trips calculated by the National Travel Survey was by (i) car driver, (ii) car passenger, (iii) bus, (iv) walking and (v) other modes of transport broken down by (A) commuting, (B) business, (C) education, (D) escort education, (E) shopping and (F) other reasons, broken down by (1) sex and (2) those (aa) under 17 years, (bb) 17 to 29 years, (cc) 30 to 49 years, (dd) 50 to 59 years and (ee) over 60 years in the most recent three-year period for which results are available.

Tony McNulty: A summary of the information for 19992001 will be placed in the Libraries of the House. The sample sizes of the National Travel Survey are too small to provide a full breakdown at the requested level of detail.

Oil Transfers (Lyme Bay)

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the Answer of 7 June 2004, Official Report, column 71W, on Oil Transfers (Lyme Bay), how many individual transfers of oil took place for each vessel off the coast of South Devon in Lyme Bay in each of the last 10 years.

David Jamieson: Each ship to ship transfer operation before 2003 involved a single transfer of oil from one ship to another. The three transfers in 2003 involved 16 individual transfers of oil and 19 separate ships.

Pay Rates (Ships)

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the levels of payment for ratings working on UK-registered ships.

David Jamieson: Subject to the provisions of the national minimum wage, rates of pay are matters for negotiation between employers and employees.

Ports (Security)

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many official breaches of security have taken place at UK ports in each year since 2003, broken down by port and type of breach.

David Jamieson: It is not the practice to disclose such security information.

Ports (Security)

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the enforcement notices under provisions of the Aviation and Maritime Security Act 1990 which have been served on UK harbour authorities and harbour operators since 1 January 2003; and what the reasons were in each case for serving the notice.

David Jamieson: No enforcement notices have been issued since 1 January 2003.

Press Releases

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on what occasions press releases have been released on behalf of (a) his Department, (b) the Highways Agency, (c) the Health and Safety Executive, (d) other departmental agencies and (e) other transport non-departmental public bodies by the Government News Network North East in each year since 2002, broken down by those releases which are (i) regionally generated and (ii) despatched for the national department.

Tony McNulty: Press releases have been issued by the Government News Network North East on behalf of the Department for Transport, the Highways Agency, the Health and Safety Executive and other departmental agencies and non-departmental public bodies in each year since 2002 as follows:
	
		2002
		
			 Department Total dispatched Regionally generated Dispatched regionally for national Department 
		
		
			 Department for Transport(7) 62 28 34 
			 Highways Agency 54 43 11 
			 HSE 55 27 18 
			 Other agencies 10 10  
			 Other non-departmental bodies
			 Total 181 108 63 
		
	
	(7) Includes transport releases while as part of the former DTLR.
	
		2003
		
			 Department Total dispatched Regionally generated Dispatched regionally for national Department 
		
		
			 Department for Transport 36 13 23 
			 Highways Agency 62 56 6 
			 HSE 51 31 20 
			 Other agencies 12 9 3 
			 Other non-departmental bodies
			 Total 161 109 52 
		
	
	
		2004 (January to May)
		
			 Department Total dispatched Regionally generated Dispatched regionally for national Department 
		
		
			 Department for Transport 26 17 9 
			 Highways Agency 33 22 11 
			 HSE 26 14 12 
			 Other agencies 9 5 4 
			 Other non-departmental bodies
			 Total 94 58 36

Quality Partnerships

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many quality partnerships are in operation, broken down by local authority area.

Tony McNulty: All quality partnerships currently in operation are voluntary agreements, which do not need to be notified to central Government, as distinct from statutory schemes made under the Transport Act 2000, which need to be registered with the traffic commissioner for the relevant area. There is no agreed definition of a non-statutory quality partnership and some partnership agreements cover more than one area or corridor. Comprehensive information is therefore not available. However, a survey in 2001 found that quality partnership schemes existed or were being developed in 65 of the 85 local transport authority areas of England. The number may well have increased since 2001.
	The first statutory quality partnership schemes under the Transport Act 2000 are expected to come into operation later this year.

Railways

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many times each rail franchise holder has asked to exceed the prescribed maximum journey times; how many times these requests have been (a) approved and (b) denied; and if he will list the approvals granted.

Tony McNulty: The answer in the format requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Train operating companies (TOCs) confirm to the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) that their bid for timetabling paths delivers the passenger service requirement (PSR), which specifies maximum journey times. TOCs may seek derogations from the SRA where elements of the PSR cannot be delivered. The SRA reviews and considers each derogation request on its merits.
	Minor compromises to the TOCs bids are also made by Network Rail which can extend the journey times by small amounts in defined circumstances. The SRA's contract with TOCs permits this to happen without permission and such incidences are numerous. On occasions this may cause a journey time to be extended beyond the maximum specified in the PSR.

Railways

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many incidences of arson on the railways there were in each month since March 2003, broken down by (a) train operating company and (b) location.

Tony McNulty: The British Transport Police have provided the following figures which cover incidences of arson in England, Scotland and Wales.
	Such offences cover: (i) building works; (ii) rolling stock; (iii) endangering life; and (iv) other.
	Scotland uses the term fire-raising rather than arson when recording such crimes. The British Transport Police are unable to provide these figures by TOC or location.
	Monthly crime figures:
	
		
			  
		
		
			 April 2003 52 
			 May 2003 19 
			 June 2003 32 
			 July 2003 39 
			 August 2003 38 
			 September 2003 50 
			 October 2003 39 
			 November 2003 27 
			 December 2003 31 
			 January 2004 22 
			 February 2004 36 
			 March 2004 33 
			 Total 200304 418 
		
	
	
		
			  
		
		
			 April 2004 31 
			 May 2004 28 
			 Total (2 month) 59

Railways

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the Rail Passenger Partnership.

Tony McNulty: The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) suspended the Rail Passenger Partnership (RPP) scheme to new bids in January 2003 for budgetary reasons. All contractually committed schemes are being honoured. These represent a total SRA commitment of more than 80m in RPP funding since the scheme was launched in November 1999.

Railways

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the Strategic Rail Authority Performance Fund schemes (a) which have commenced, (b) where feasibility studies (i) have been completed and (ii) are continuing, (c) which have been placed on hold and (d) have been cancelled, indicating in each case funding from the Strategic Rail Authority (A) awarded, (B) approved and (C) projected in 200405.

Tony McNulty: The information is in the following tables. Feasibility studies were completed for each scheme. No schemes have been cancelled.
	
		Rail Performance Fund SchemesApproved/commenced -- 
		
			 Project Sponsor 200203 200304 200405 Total 
		
		
			 Modification package to Class 158 vehicles Scotrail 750,000 550,000  1,300,000 
			 Fitment of sanders to Class 156 Central 29,611 52,368  81,979 
			 Integrated Network Control Infrastructure (INCI) start-up funding SWT 587,500 0  587,500 
			 Brighton to Balcombe Route upgrade NR 732,134 0  732,134 
			 Compass upgrade FGE 64,100 0  64,100 
			   
			 Additional Platform at Swindon (Platform 4)  
			 Long lead items FGW 160,000 0  160,000 
			 Goods loop design NR 200,000 0  200,000 
			 Construction NR 4,881,290 628,500 290,000 5,799,790 
			   
			 TMIS for Bristol Temple Meads Wessex 6,454 0  6,454 
			 Class 321 door relays FGE 27,105 201,250  228,355 
			 Guilford north sidings electrification NR 76,175 0  76,175 
			 Class 507/508 axle 3 sanders ATN 0 769,100  769,100 
			 Replacement of windscreen wipers to entire DMU fleet WB 0 125,000  125,000 
			 Replacement of windscreen wipers to entire DMU fleet Wessex 0 104,000  104,000 
			 Total  7,514,369 2,430,218 290,000 10,234,587 
		
	
	
		Deferred Rail Performance Fund Schemes
		
			 Project Sponsor Status 
		
		
			 Acton Yard remodelling EWS/NR Deferred due to RPF suspension 
			 Feasibility study   
			 Construction   
			
			 Earlswood Crossover Enhanced Renewal NR Deferred due to RPF suspension 
			 FGWHST air supply system upgrade FGW Deferred due to RPF suspension 
			 Power supply reliability and reinstatement FNW/NR Deferred due to RPF suspension 
			 Raynes Park Turnback Facility NR Deferred due to RPF suspension 
			 SWTNew footbridge at Wimbledon SWT Insufficient information/RPF suspended 
			 Shelters at key stations SWT Insufficient information/RPF suspended 
			 Diverse Routing for TDM Telecom Circuits Virgin/NR Insufficient information/RPF suspended 
			 WAGNClass 317 traction motor modification WAGN Deferred due to RPF suspension

Railways

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the total level of Rail Passenger Partnership funding (a) paid in 200304 and (b) to be paid in 200405 by the Strategic Rail Authority, with particular reference to the nature of the schemes to which such funding would be directed.

Tony McNulty: 19,957,913 was paid in 200304, and 21,450,191 is contractually committed to be paid in 200405. The funding assists new or enhanced passenger rail services and facilities which contribute to the Government's wider objectives, including modal shift and integration with other modes, but which typically are not able to earn commercial returns.

Railways

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  how much new rolling stock was ordered in each year since 2001 for each train operating company, broken down by type;
	(2)  what types of and how much new rolling stock have been ordered in each year since 2002 by each train operating company.

Tony McNulty: The following tables show the new rolling stock that has been ordered since 2001 by train operator and type.
	
		2001
		
			 Operator Number of vehicles Type of vehicle 
		
		
			 Arriva Trains Northern 8 Electric multiple unit 
			 Chiltern 7 Diesel multiple unit 
			 Great Eastern 84 Electric multiple unit 
			 Midland Main Line 10 Diesel multiple unit 
			 South Central 240 Electric multiple unit 
			 South West Trains 785 Electric multiple unit 
		
	
	
		2002
		
			 Operator Number of vehicles Type of vehicle 
		
		
			 Great Eastern 8 Diesel multiple unit 
			 South Eastern Trains 408 Electric multiple unit 
			 Midland Main Line 127 Diesel multiple unit 
			 South Central 460 Electric multiple unit 
		
	
	
		2003
		
			 Operator Number of vehicles Type of vehicle 
		
		
			 Chiltern 6 Diesel multiple unit 
			 Scotrail 87 Diesel multiple unit 
			 South Central 42 Diesel multiple unit 
			 Transpennine 153 Diesel multiple unit

Railways

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what powers the Rail Regulator has to oblige train operating companies to make working toilets available to passengers on trains; and what regulations exist to oblige train operating companies to make working toilets available to passengers on trains;
	(2)  what powers the Strategic Rail Authority has to oblige train operating companies to making working toilets available to passengers on trains.

Tony McNulty: Neither the Rail Regulator nor the Strategic Rail Authority has specific powers to oblige operators to provide toilets on trains. It would be inappropriate to give them such powers when not all rolling stock is fitted with toilets. Operators will, however, make the most of their commercial opportunities only where they meet the demands of passengers. Where toilets are provided on trains they are subject to normal environmental health requirements.

Railways

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many broken rails there were on Britain's railways in each year since 200001.

Tony McNulty: Network Rail advises that the annual totals of broken rails are as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 200001 706 
			 200102 536 
			 200203 444 
			 200304 334

Railways

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the use of special purpose vehicles for securing third party investment in major infrastructure works on the railway; and what projects are (a) under way and (b) proposed.

Tony McNulty: Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) are developed to take forward particular infrastructure: upgrades. The Chiltern Line upgrade has been taken forward in this way and it is proposed that in future such schemes as the East London Line project will also be taken forward by an SPV.

Railways

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many incidents of trains running into (a) cows, (b) horses and (c) other animals where the animals were subsequently (i) killed, (ii) injured and (iii) retrieved from railway lines there were in each year since 200102.

Tony McNulty: The Health and Safety Executive (USE) has provided the following information on the number of incidents involving trains striking animals for the period 1 April 200131 March 2004 in the table below:
	
		
			  200102 200203 200304 1 
		
		
			 Cows 50 57 36 
			 Horses 6 7 5 
			 Other Animals 50 47 34 
			 Total 106 111 75 
		
	
	(8) Provisional figures
	The data is based on trains striking animals on the railway network, reportable by the railways to HSE's Railway Inspectorate (HMRI) under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR 95). Under RIDDOR the railways are required to report all incidents of a train striking a cow or horse, and for all other animals, where the train sustains damage requiring immediate or temporary repairs. There is no requirement under RIDDOR to report if the animal was killed or injured or if retrieved from the line. Trains only resume their journeys when it is safe to do so.

Railways

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) warning letters and (b) enforcement notices have been given by the Health and Safety Executive to (i) Railtrack and (ii) train operating companies for each year since 200102, broken down by type.

Tony McNulty: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) advises that warning letters are not a formal enforcement tool and that it is not possible to provide figures for the number of letters it has written to railway dutyholders raising issues that need to be addressed as HSE corresponds with dutyholders on a range of issues and such letters are not separately identified.
	The HSE's Railway Inspectorate has issued the following number of enforcement notices each year since 200102:
	
		
			  (i) Railtrack plc/network rail (ii) Train operating companies 
		
		
			 200102 51 58 
			 200203 46 33 
			 200304 26 16 
		
	
	HSE describes some of its enforcement activities in its Annual Reports on Railway Safety, copies of which are available from the House Library. HSE plans to publish its Annual Report on Railway Safety for 200304 in the autumn.
	Details of these enforcement notices are publicly available on HSE's website at http://www.hse-databases.co.uk/notices/.

Railways

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to improve the arrangements by which train operating companies (a) purchase and (b) lease rolling stock from rolling stock companies.

Tony McNulty: Whether changes are needed to the present arrangements in this area is among the issues being considered as part of the rail review announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 19 January.

Railways

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what the total length of track on the rail network which has been replaced was in each year since 2000 (a) in total, (b) subdivided by zonal area and (c) subdivided by train operating company area;
	(2)  how many speed restrictions on railways there were for each month since June 2001 (a) in total and (b) subdivided by zonal area;
	(3)  what the length of railway track not meeting the minimum required standard for each year since 1997 was (a) in total and (b) subdivided by zonal area;
	(4)  how many reported signal failures there were on the railway infrastructure controlled by Railtrack for each month since November 2001.

Tony McNulty: These are operational matters for Network Rail. I have passed these questions to Network Rail, for them to respond directly to the hon. Member.

Railways

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will state, for each train operating company (a) when the franchise was first renewed, (b) the length of the original franchise awarded, (c) the dates on which the franchise has since been awarded, (d) when the franchise is next due to be awarded and (e) details of changes in the ownership which have taken place since the franchise was first awarded.

Tony McNulty: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Railways

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  if he will place in the Library the number of each different type of rolling stock in use by each train operator, indicating those which are Mark 1 slam door vehicles;
	(2)  what the current life expiry of rolling stock on the network is, broken down by (a) vehicle type, (b) number of vehicles and (c) franchises.

Tony McNulty: The life of rolling stock can change for a number of reasons. Major refurbishments and mandatory modifications are examples. It is therefore impossible to be certain about the last date of a vehicle's operation. The table, which has been placed in the Libraries of the House, nevertheless shows the date when vehicles are currently expected to be removed from passenger service.

Railways

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the (a) passengers in excess of capacity and (b) total number of passengers figure was (i) for each London commuting service train operator, and (ii) in total, broken down into (A) am peak, (B) pm peak and (C) total; and what the total number was of peak passengers into London for (1) am peak, (2) pm peak and (3) in total for each London commuting service train operator as measured in the annual surveys since 2001.

Tony McNulty: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Roads

Adrian Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many closures there were on (a) the M5 south of junction 25 and (b) the A303 west of Ilminster, Somerset in each of the last five years; and what the (i) location and (ii) duration was in each case.

David Jamieson: During each of the last five years the following unplanned closures were reported to the Highways Agency by the Police.
	
		
			   (a) M5 South of Junction 25 (b) A303/A30 West of Ilminster to Exeter 
		
		
			 2004  1 
			 2003 2 5 
			 2002 2 8 
			 2001 5 5 
			 2000 3 3 
			 Total 12 22 
		
	
	The location and duration of each closure where recorded was(a) M5
	
		
			  Location Duration 
		
		
			 18 August 2000 N/B J2928 1 hour 55 minutes 
			 14 September 2000 N/B J2726 Not recorded 
			 25 October 2000 N/BJ2726 Approx 8 hours 
			 12 January 2001 S/BJ2526 Not recorded 
			 17 March 2001 S/B J2829 2 hours. 10 minutes 
			 19 March 2001 S/B J2526 3 hours 
			 7 August 2001 S/B J2627 Not recorded 
			 12 November 2001 N/BJ2625 Not recorded 
			 8 January 2002 N/B and S/B J2627 Approx 7 hours 30 minutes to 8 hours 
			 1 July 2002 N/B J2726 Not recorded 
			 12 June 2003 N/B J2827 2 hours 45 minutes 
			 24 November 2003 N/BJ25 4 hours 30 minutes 
		
	
	(b) A303/A30
	
		
			  Location Duration 
		
		
			 27 February 2000 A303 Southfields to Eagle Cross Not recorded 
			 11 March 2000 A30 (E/B) East of Ironbridge 3 hours 35 minutes 
			 9 June 2000 A30 (E/B) Exeter Airport 55 minutes 
			 8 March 2001 A30 (W/B) Ironbridge 6 hours 30 minutes 
			 3 August 2001 A30 Monkton Approx 4 hours 
			 30 September 2001 A303 Stopgate Cross to Marsh 11 hours 
			 3 October 2001 A30 (W/B) Daisymount 3 hours 20 minutes 
			 24 November 2001 A303 Longlie Common -Stopgate Cross Not recorded 
			 8 March 2002 A30 Monkton Not recorded 
			 11 March 2002 A30 (W/B) East of Exeter Airport Junction 2 hours 5 minutes 
			 5 May 2002 A303 Stopgate Cross Not recorded 
			 9 June 2002 A303 Southfield roundabout to Eagle Tavern Not recorded 
			 21 June 2002 A303 near Marsh Not known 
			 18 July 2002 A30 Turk's Head to Monkton 1 hour 30 minutes 
			 26 August 2002 A303 Horton Bypass Not recorded 
			 13 November 2002 A30 (W/B) west of Honiton 10 hours 
			 15 January 2003 A30 (W/B) Daisymount 2 hours 
			 19 February 2003 A30 (W/B and E/B) Daisymount to Sowton 50 minutes 
			 14 May 2003 A30Monkton 4 hours 
			 13 November 2003 A30 (W/B) Pattersons Cross 1 hour 
			 14 December 2003 A30 Rawridge Hill 6 hours 
			 23 March 2004 A30 (W/B) East of Exeter Airport Junction 8 hours 30 minites 
		
	
	(It is likely that unrecorded closures would have been for a duration of at least 1 hour).
	The Highways Agency are notified of closures by the Police and may not be aware of all closures if the Police dealt with it themselves.
	There will have been some closures or partial closures that were planned (eg for scheduled maintenance) but it has not been possible to obtain this information in the time available.

Roads

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of road accidents in 2003 were caused by (a) people driving without insurance, (b) people in cars without a valid MOT certificate, (c) cars not licensed, (d) people driving while disqualified or without valid licences, (e) drivers under the influence of drugs, (f) drivers under the influence of alcohol, (g) drivers who had fallen asleep at the wheel and (h) drivers driving stolen vehicles.

Kim Howells: holding answer 29 June 2004
	Routine statistics do not record the primary cause of a road accident. However, research conducted on behalf of the Department for Transport has estimated on the basis of limited information that just over 3 per cent. of all personal injury crashes involve a driver subsequently prosecuted for unlicensed driving, which included driving while disqualified.
	Research also indicates that driver fatigue accounts for about 10 per cent. of all accidents on the road network in Great Britain. Under a pilot scheme some police forces have provided information on the factors that may have contributed to an accident. The data provided for 2003 indicates that in 1 per cent. of accidents within the pilot scheme driver fatigue was a contributory factor. This data is based on the opinions of police officers or, in the case of accidents reported by a member of the public at a police station, determined from the description of the accident. This pilot scheme also indicates that driver impairment due to drugs was a contributory factor in 1 per cent. of all accidents.
	Provisional estimates for 2002 indicate that 6 per cent. of all accidents involved a driver who had blood alcohol levels in excess of the legal limit.
	Information on accidents caused by people driving without insurance, a valid MOT certificate, driving in unlicensed cars, or drivers of stolen vehicles is not recorded in the national accident data collection system and therefore the data is not available.

Roads

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) kilometres of local roads, (b) bridges and (c) footways have been restored by local authorities using money in the Local Transport Plan settlement for capital maintenance work on local highways for (i) 200203 and (ii) 200304 (A) in total and (B) for each local authority.

David Jamieson: These figures are not available for England. Progress in restoring local roads and footways is measured by Best Value Performance Indicators and in restoring bridges by the outstanding numbers of bridges requiring strengthening or major maintenance. I have placed in the Libraries of both Houses two tables showing the latest information for English local highway authorities outside London as contained in the annual progress reports on Local Transport Plans submitted in July 2003.
	Highway maintenance in London is a matter for the Mayor and the Greater London Assembly. In Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales it is a matter for the devolved Administrations.

Roads

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the cost to local authorities was of road maintenance and repair in each financial year since 200001 in respect of (a) flood and (b) other damage (i) in total and (ii) for each local authority.

David Jamieson: In England, this information is not collected on an annual basis. However, reports were collated on the exceptional flood damage to highways in 2001, and on the drought damage in 2003, from local highway authorities that considered that they were significantly affected. In both cases these figures were used to calculate assistance for those worst affected. The reported damage per authority and the national totals are shown in the two tables as follows.
	Flood and other damage to roads in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales is a matter for the devolved administrations.
	
		Flood damage to bridges and roads in 2001
		
			 Authority Reported flood damage (000) 
		
		
			 Kent 7,060 
			 Hampshire 6,531 
			 North Yorkshire 3,275 
			 Surrey 3,204 
			 Devon 2,700 
			 West Sussex 2,642 
			 East Sussex 2,505 
			 Gloucestershire 2,405 
			 Wiltshire 2,365 
			 Herefordshire 1,640 
			 Northumberland 1,497 
			 Shropshire 1,453 
			 Hertfordshire 1,275 
			 Oldham 1,199 
			 Dorset 817 
			 Telford and Wrekin 748 
			 West Berkshire 557 
			 Brighton and Hove 510 
			 Durham 508 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 430 
			 City of Derby 319 
			 Medway Towns 302 
			 Transport for London 300 
			 Lincolnshire 286 
			 South Gloucestershire 210 
			 Somerset 207 
			 Leeds 155 
			 Hartlepool 144 
			 Richmond 130 
			 Enfield 104 
			 Total 45,478 
		
	
	
		Drought damage to roads in 2003
		
			 Authority Reported drought damage (000) 
		
		
			 Lincolnshire 7,397 
			 Essex 5,614 
			 East Sussex 5,568 
			 Kent 4,167 
			 Cambridgeshire 3,522 
			 Hampshire 3,030 
			 Peterborough 2,400 
			 West Sussex 2,221 
			 Isle of Wight 1,500 
			 Wiltshire 1,302 
			 Buckinghamshire 1,200 
			 Surrey 1,000 
			 Suffolk 750 
			 Norfolk 650 
			 Bedfordshire 300 
			 Total 40,621 
		
	
	The Department for Transport does not keep records relating to schemes of this type delivered before 200102.

Roads

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the (a) Quiet Lane and (b) Homezone projects across England that are fully operational.

David Jamieson: Local Transport Authorities in England outside London have reported the delivery of Quiet Lane and Home Zone schemes in Local Transport Plan Annual Progress Reports, as follows:
	
		
			  Year of scheme delivery 
			  200102 200203 
		
		
			 Quiet lanes   
			 Derbyshire 0 1 
			 Hartlepool 0 1 
			 Lancashire 0 18 
			 Kent 6 2 
			 Oxfordshire 0 19 
			 Surrey 1 0 
			 Shropshire 0 3 
			 Telford and Wrekin 1 0 
			 Total 8 44 
			
			 Home zones   
			 Hertfordshire 1 0 
			 Suffolk 0 1 
			 Nottingham City 2  
			 Nottinghamshire 2 0 
			 Durham 0 1 
			 North Tyneside 1 0 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 0 1 
			 Cheshire 0 1 
			 Cumbria 0 1 
			 Manchester CC 1 2 
			 St. Helens 1 0 
			 Trafford 0 1 
			 Hampshire 1 0 
			 Kent 0 2 
			 Portsmouth 1 0 
			 Surrey 0 1 
			 Bristol 1 1 
			 Devon 0 1 
			 Gloucestershire 0 1 
			 Plymouth 1 0 
			 Shropshire 0 2 
			 Warwickshire 0 1 
			 Wolverhampton 0 1 
			 Leeds 1 0 
			 York 1 1 
			 Total 14 19 
		
	
	The Department for Transport does not keep records relating to schemes of this type delivered before 200102 delivered before 200102

Roads

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road building schemes using the design, build, finance and operate contracting method are (a) completed and (b) under construction; what the estimated cost to public funds is for each project over the lifetime of the DBFO contract; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: My Department has awarded 10 Design Build Finance and Operate contracts of which two are under construction and eight have been completed. The estimated cost to public funds over the life of the 10 projects are:
	
		
			 Project Estimated Cost  million 
		
		
			 Completed projects  
			 M1-A1 232 
			 A1(M) Cambs 154 
			 A417/A419 112 
			 A69 62 
			 M40 182 
			 A19 136 
			 A50 67 
			 A30/A35 148 
			 Projects under construction 
			 A1(M) Yorkshire 210 
			 A249 100 
		
	
	The above figures are Net Present Values calculated at the time of contract award.

Roads

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reasons the works on the A36 (T) at Skew Bridge, Salisbury have overrun; when they will be completed; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: Work on the A36 Skew Bridge upgrading work commenced in June 2003. New structures are being installed on either side of the existing bridge to improve safety by providing new footways, cycle track and stronger parapets.
	A number of factors have delayed work. There was a delay of three months owing to unexpected poor ground conditions which necessitated significant redesign work and the need for strengthening works. High winds have also restricted planned operations of the crane, further delaying the progress of the work.
	The layout of the site is very confined. This dictates a strict sequence of operations and restricts the number of people that can work on the site at one time. For health and safety reasons, many tasks can only be carried out when both road and rail traffic are completely suspended. This relies on the agreement of Network Rail to close the railway line. To minimise disruption these closures only take place during off peak periods. The setting up and dismantling of heavy equipment on the road requires a length of time which is generally only available at weekends.
	All critical structural operations have now been completed and it is hoped the projectwill finish before the end of September.

Shipping Employment

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the overall change in the number of British seafarers employed in UK shipping has been as a result of the Government's measures introduced under their policy Charting a New Course.

David Jamieson: British Shipping: Charting a New Course was published in 1998. It led to the introduction of a number of innovative measures aimed at halting the decline in the UK shipping industry, including Tonnage Tax in 2000.
	Shipping is a global, competitive industry and changes in UK seafarer numbers cannot be attributed to the Government's policy measures alone. However, the latest available figures (contained in the London Metropolitan University's 'United Kingdom Seafarer's Analysis 2003') show that although the number of UK active seafarers had declined from approximately 30,000 in 1997 to 25,000 in 2001, it had increased to 28,000 by 2003.

Shipping Employment

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on the employment trends of British seafarers over the last seven years;
	(2)  what effect the tonnage tax scheme has had on employment levels among British seafarers; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: The tonnage tax, which was introduced in the Finance Act 2000, is part of the Government's strategy for halting the decline in the UK shipping industry. Around 12,500 seafarers (officers and ratings) are employed on ships in the tonnage tax. Approximately 39 per cent. of all of these seafarers, and nearly 50 per cent. of the officers, are UK nationals.
	Shipping is, however, a global, competitive industry and UK seafarer employment levels are influenced by factors other than the tonnage tax. The latest available figures (contained in the London Metropolitan University's 'United Kingdom Seafarer's Analysis 2003') show that although the number of UK active seafarers had declined from approximately 30,000 in 1997 to 25,000 in 2001, it had increased to 28,000 by 2003.

Speed Cameras

Tony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reason speed cameras are not installed on motorways as a routine safety measure on the same basis as other roads.

David Jamieson: The deployment of safety cameras on motorways is governed by the same rules as those on other parts of the network. Motorways, being relatively safer than the rest of the road network due to the separation of opposing traffic streams and the limited amount of vulnerable users, present fewer locations that meet the criteria. However, cameras are used at locations where the speed limit has been reduced for reasons of safety, including road maintenance sites where they enforce temporary speed limits put in place for the protection of road users and workers alike.

Speed Cameras

Tony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the new system for speed camera penalties linking penalty points to the scale of the excess speed will be introduced.

David Jamieson: We are planning to consult on a more flexible system of fines for speeding to reflect better the levels of risk to road safety. Changes to the penalty fine system for speeding offences would require legislation.

Strategic Rail Authority

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport who the winner was of the Strategic Rail Authority's freight innovation competition; by when the winning scheme was required to be operational; what progress has been made to date with the winning scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The three winners of the Strategic Rail Authority's Innovative Solutions in Rail-Based Logistics competition are listed in the SRA's 2001 Freight Strategy. Each had contractual milestones to reach. All three have delivered on them. Details are as follows:
	Blue Circle Consortium: This project commenced its contracted period of two year operational trials in July 2003. On-going evaluation is taking place.
	Exel: This project has been completed. Technical trials with a number of end user customers took place during 200102 as specified with the project demonstrating the potential viability and market attractiveness of a freight multiple unit concept.
	Minimodal: The equipment has been developed. Operational trials began in May 2003 and are on-going. The company is in negotiation with potential clients to commence full scale commercial operation later this year.

Ten-year Transport Plan

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library an updated copy of Table A3 from the 10-year transport plan (a) at outturn prices and (b) at today's prices.

Tony McNulty: Table Al.l 'Delivering Better Transport: Progress Report (December 2002)' updates Table A3 from the 'Transport 2010: The 10 Year Plan' in outturn prices. Table Al.l is reproduced below for reference. These indicative spending plans are being reviewed in the context of the Spending Review 2004 and the review and roll forward of the 10 Year Plan.
	
		Table A1.1: 10 Year Planpublic spending and private investment, 200102 to 201011Decisions about allocations from 200607 onwards, in particular the use of unallocated provision, will be taken in the light of the review and roll-forward of the 10 Year Plan -- ( billion, rounded)
		
			  200102 200203 200304 200405 200506 200607 
		
		
			 Public investment expenditure 4.2 5.6 6.0 6.2 6.4 6.4 
			 Of which:   
			 Strategic roads 1.0 1.1 0.6 0.8 0.6 0.9 
			 Railways 0.9 1.4 2.7 2.5 3.0 2.7 
			 Local transport 1.2 1.5 1.6 1.9 1.9 2.1 
			 London excluding LUL 0.5 0.7 1.0 0.9 0.7 0.7 
			 LUL 0.5 0.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Other 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 Unallocated 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 
			
			 Public resource expenditure 5.3 5.8 7.2 7.5 7.8 8.2 
			 Of which:   
			 Strategic roads 0.6 0.7 1.2 1.1 1.4 1.4 
			 Railways 1.2 1.4 1.1 1.3 1.3 1.5 
			 Local transport 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.5 
			 Local authority revenue 2.4 2.4 2.6 2.7 2.7 2.8 
			 London excluding LUL 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.4 
			 London LA revenue 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 
			 LUL 0.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.1 
			 Other 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 
			
			 Total public expenditure 9.5 11.4 13.2 13.6 14.2 14.6 
			 Of which:   
			 Strategic roads 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2.0 2.2 
			 Railways 2.1 2.8 3.8 3.8 4.3 4.2 
			 Local transport 4.0 4.4 4.6 5.1 5.2 5.3 
			 London excluding LUL 1.1 1.4 1.7 1.6 1.4 1.5 
			 LUL 0.5 0.8 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.1 
			 Other 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 Unallocated 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 
			
			 Private investment 4.3 4.9 5.9 6.2 5.7 5.9 
			 Of which:   
			 Strategic roads 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.4 
			 Railways 3.4 3.7 3.8 4.0 3.2 3.1 
			 Local transport 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.0 
			 London 0.2 0.3 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.3 
			 Public spending from local charging revenue 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 
			
			 Less: Public expenditure supporting private investment -0.2 -0.2 -1.3 -1.4 -1.7 -2.0 
			
			 Net total 13.7 16.0 17.8 18.5 18.3 18.7 
		
	
	
		( billion, rounded)
		
			  200708 200809 200910 201011 10 Year Plan totals 
		
		
			 Public investment expenditure 6.8 7.1 7.5 7.5 63.7 
			 Of which:  
			 Strategic roads 1.0 1.3 1.3 1.3 9.9 
			 Railways 2.2 1.3 1.2 1.2 19.2 
			 Local transport 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.2 19.0 
			 London excluding LUL 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 7.3 
			 LUL 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.2 
			 Other 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.8 
			 Unallocated 0.7 1.5 2.0 1.9 6.2 
			   
			 Public resource expenditure 8.3 8.7 8.9 9.1 76.8 
			 Of which:  
			 Strategic roads 1.4 1.5 1.5 1.6 12.3 
			 Railways 1.4 1.6 1.5 1.5 13.8 
			 Local transport 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.7 5.3 
			 Local authority revenue 2.8 2.9 2.9 3.0 27.3 
			 London excluding LUL 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 3.5 
			 London LA revenue 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 3.9 
			 LUL 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.3 9.3 
			 Other 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 1.3 
			   
			 Total public expenditure 15.2 15.7 16.4 16.6 140.4 
			 Of which:  
			 Strategic roads 2.4 2.7 2.8 2.9 22.2 
			 Railways 3.6 2.9 2.7 2.8 33.0 
			 Local transport 5.5 5.7 5.8 6.0 51.6 
			 London excluding LUL 1.5' 1.5 1.5 1.5 14.8 
			 LUL 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.3 10.5 
			 Other 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 2.1 
			 Unallocated 0.7 1.5 2.0 1.9 6.2 
			   
			 Private investment 6.0 5.9 5.9 5.9 56.6 
			 Of which:  
			 Strategic roads 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.2 2.5 
			 Railways 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 34.1 
			 Local transport 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.0 9.0 
			 London 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.3 11.1 
			 Public spending from local charging revenue 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 1.3 
			   
			 Less: Public expenditure supporting private investment -2.3 -2.5 -2.9 -3.1 -17.7 
			   
			 Net total 19.1 19.3 19.6 19.6 180.6 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The net total figures represent the total of public and private investment and public resource expenditure plus public spending funded by local charging revenue. But to avoid double counting, public expenditure which directly supports private investment has been excluded from the net total.
	2. All figures are at outturn prices. Totals may not sum owing to rounding.
	3. The figures for public investment expenditure consist of expenditure within DfT's Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) and capital grants to the private sector within DfT's Resource DEL. Figures for public resource expenditure consist of the remainder of DfT's Resource DEL and estimates of local authority revenue expenditure.
	4. Figures for public expenditure in 200102 represent outturn expenditure; for 200203 provision; for 200304 plans under Spending Review 2002; and for later years, indicative allocations subject to future Spending Reviews.
	5. Local authority revenue figures are estimates of local authority transport spending, reflecting Highways Maintenance Standard Spending Assessment (SSA) and an estimated part of EPCS SSA in years up to 200203. For later years, the figures represent plans for Highways Maintenance Formula Spending Share (FSS) and an estimated part of EPCS FSS.

Transport Delays

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent (a) assessment he has made and (b) research he has commissioned into the cost, in terms of (i) customer and (ii) business time and financial impact, of transport delays.

Tony McNulty: The Department has recently updated its estimates of the costs of business and other time spent in travelling. These estimates are used to assess whether the benefits that projects and policies can be expected to deliver in terms of reducing delays exceed the costs of the measures proposed. The new values are based on research commissioned from the Institute for Transport Studies at the University of Leeds and were published on the Department's website in June 2004.

Transport Projects

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the letters of comfort which have been provided by (a) his Department and (b) the Treasury in relation to transport projects in each year since 2001; and what the (i) nature and (ii) value of the project was in each case.

Tony McNulty: A full listing of letters of comfort, which this Department has provided, can be obtained from Note 25 of the published 200203 Departmental Resource Accounts. The note gives details on the value as well as nature of the projects.
	The Treasury has not provided any letters of comfort in relation to transport projects.

Traveline

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment has been conducted of the effectiveness of (a) the Traveline phone service and (b) the traveline.org.uk website; and if he will place copies of related correspondence in the Library.

Tony McNulty: The information required is as follows.
	(a) The traveline telephone service has been operating since 1 August 2000. In 2003, traveline answered 4.2 million calls. Mystery shopping surveys are conducted twice a year to measure the quality of the service, with the most recent survey giving an overall average score of 88 per cent. for a number of measures, including customer service, detail and accuracy. British Telecom is contracted to measure the quality of the telecommunications of traveline's 23 call-centresthe latest findings showed that the call-centres answered 96.2 per cent. of all calls received. 88.3 per cent. of direct calls and 90.9 per cent. of transfer calls were answered within 30 seconds.
	(b) The traveline.org.uk site has been operating since August 2001. While there has been no assessment of the effectiveness of the traveline.org.uk site, the latest figures show that there were 90,582 visits to the site in May 2004.

Truck Security

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance he has issued to the road haulage industry relating to the security of trucks; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: The Department published in February this year a voluntary Code of Practice for the security of transporting dangerous goods by road. This was developed and agreed by Government, police and industry. It is supported by guidance, which outlines ways in which the provisions of the code could be met and includes measures to improve the security of trucks.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Cost Efficiency

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what procedures are in place in his Department to ensure cost efficiency in purchasing technical cooperation and consultancy; and if he will list the occasions when his Department has used bulk buying to ensure cost efficiency in each of the last three years.

Hilary Benn: DFID applies the Public Procurement Regulations to purchase consultancy for technical cooperation through fair and transparent international competition. DFID uses appropriate procurement strategies to obtain best value, including collaborative purchasing with other government departments. We do not bulk buy services. We use Framework Agreements with companies and individuals. These allow us to aggregate our predicted requirements and to obtain services when we need them at fair prices with low transaction costs.
	A list of all DFID Framework Agreements entered into since April 2001 has been placed in the House of Commons Library.

Diamonds

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the progress being made by his Department towards the production of an effective monitoring system and codes to ensure that only certified diamonds enter the global diamond market.

Bill Rammell: I have been asked to reply.
	The Kimberley Process certification scheme for the international trade in rough diamonds has been implemented by 43 countries and the European Community since January 2003. Each member of the scheme ensures that it only trades in rough diamonds accompanied by a certificate from the exporting government attesting that the goods are conflict free.
	Monitoring of the scheme, to ensure effective internal controls underpinning the national certificate, is via peer review. This includes on the ground inspections, annual self-assessments and the regular exchange of detailed statistical and other data, including on legislative and administrative procedures.

European Development Fund

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate he has made of the amount of money in the European Development Fund allocated for overseas projects but unspent (a) this year and (b) last year.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: EOF programmes are committed and spent over a number of years. The current 9 EOF, which includes uncommitted funds transferred from the 6, 7and 8 EDFs, will finance commitments over the period 200007. The overall level of the 9 EDF is 16.2 billion (10.8 billion), of which 13.5 billion (9 billion) is new funding and 2.7 billion (1.8 billion) is transferred from previous EDFs.
	In 2003, commitments totalled 4.1 billion (2.7 billion) with payments amounting to 2.4 billion (1.6 billion). The EC's latest estimates for 2004 forecast commitments of 3.4 billion (2.25 billion) and payments of 2.6 billion (1.7 billion). Commitments and payment levels are expected to remain broadly similar in 2005.
	The EC issues calls for member states' contributions to the EDF in three instalments per annum. These are based on the Commission's forecasts of payment requirements and agreed by Council Decision. Member states transfer their funds to the Commission once the level of each overall instalment has been agreed.

Extractive Industries Review

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support he will give to implementing the recent extractive industries review for the World Bank; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: I refer the hon. Member for Leeds, West to the answer given to the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Tom Brake) on 1 March 2004, Official Report, column 619W.
	DFID is currently studying the World Bank management's response to the Extractive Industries Review (EIR) and will make our position on the EIR recommendations public shortly.

Highly Indebted Poor Countries

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the Government debt outstanding excluding Export Credits Guarantee Department debt to each country outside the EU and G10 (a) was in 1997 and (b) is now; and how much debt has been cancelled in each case since the launch of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative.

Hilary Benn: Excluding Export Credits Guarantee Department debt, outstanding debts to the UK Government are either old aid loans or loans formally held by the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) which were transferred to DFID when CDC was part-privatised in 1999. Many such loans have already been written off, either under Retrospective Terms Adjustment (RTA)the policy to forgive loans to low income countriesor under the Commonwealth Debt Initiative (GDI) which was launched to reduce formal government to government debt for low and lower-middle income countries in the Commonwealth. It is also UK policy to write-off 100 per cent. of all bilateral debts for countries when they qualify for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. HIPC debt repayments are suspended at HIPC Decision Point and formally written off at Completion Point.
	UK Government debt outstanding on former aid loans to countries outside the EU and G10 was:
	(a) on 1 April 1997389,627,196 (of which 341,460,302 principal and 48,166,894 interest)
	(b) on 1 April 2004146,807,222 (of which 132,517,931 principal and 14,289,291 interest)
	For accounting purposes, DFID adopts a process of cancelling debts as they become due. This means that some of the debts in the above figures have been officially cancelled but will continue to show up on DFID's accounts until the loans expire. The total amount of former aid loans cancelled under debt initiatives between 1997 and 2004, included in the above figures, is 167,973,700 (of which 143,405,982 principal and 24,567,718 interest). However, since 1997, DFID has committed to cancelling 266,100,904 (of which 233,331,961 principal and 32,768,943 interest) and countries do not have to make repayments on these debts, provided that they remain committed to poverty reduction. I have arranged for a copy of a table to show all former aid loans listed by country to be placed in the Library.
	Debts outstanding on loans made by the CDC to countries outside the EU and G10 were:
	(a) on 31 December 1997283,118,860.52 (of which 275,358,759.57 principal and 7,760,100.95 interest)
	(b) on 31 May 2004241,608,825.92 (of which 165,957,368.44 principal and 75,651,457.48 interest). Of this total amount, only 96,366,201.28 is live debt, as the remaining 145,242,624.64 has been suspended under RTA, CDI or HIPC.
	The total amount of former CDC debt cancelled under debt relief initiatives between 1997 and 2004 is 16,498,403.48. A further 128,761,546.29 has been suspended and will either be formally cancelled when the debtor country reaches HIPC Completion Point or reviewed on a year-by-year basis against the CDI criteria of the debtor Government's commitment to poverty reduction, sound economic policies and good governance. I have arranged for a copy of two tables entitled 'CDC loans in 1997 and in 2004' listed by country and an explanation of the amounts cancelled and suspended to be placed in the Library (Table 2CDC Loans at 31 December 1997 and Table 3CDC Loans at 31 May 2004).

Pay Systems

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will place in the Library the most recent review of (a) his Department's pay systems and (b) the departmental equal pay action plan.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: A review of DFID's pay systems for staff as follows the Senior Civil Service is currently under way. The current pay deal expires on 31 July 2004. The review takes the form of discussions between my officials and the Trade Union Side, and separately with the Treasury and Cabinet Office, and culminates in an offer to the Trade Unions. DFID is still discussing our position with all parties, although we hope to make an offer to the Trade Unions soon. There will be no formal review document.
	DFID completed its equal pay audit of staff below the Senior Civil Service last year, and found no significant pay gaps. Discussions are under way with the Cabinet Office on a number of issues as part of the current pay review, including their potential impact on equal pay. Once these discussions have been concluded we will put a copy of our updated equal pay action plan in the Library.

Zambia

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development by how much Zambia's (a) GNP per capita and (b) human development index ranking has changed since 1990; what recommendations he has made to improve World Bank conditionality under the Highly Indebted Poor Countries programme; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: Zambia's real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita fell by 11.9 per cent. between 1990 and 2002, an average decline of 1.1 per cent. per annum. The decline occurred in the period up to 1995 when real GDP per capita fell by 18.3 per cent., an average decline of 4.0 per cent. per annum. Since 1995 real GDP per capita has risen by 7.8 per cent., an average rise of 1.1 per cent. per annum, with positive per capita growth in every year except 1998.
	Zambia's per capita GDP based on purchasing power parity, as commonly used for international comparisons, moved from US$780 in 1990 to US$710 in 1995 and US$840 in 2002. Zambia's ranking among 149 countries listed in the World Bank's database throughout this period fell from 134th position in 1990 to 141st in 1995 and 140th in 2002.
	Zambia's Human Development Index score fell from 0.461 in 1990 to 0.386 in 2001. Zambia's ranking fell from 111th of 136 countries in 1990 to 163rd of 175 countries in 2001.
	The Department for International Development (DFID) supports the Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) in its objective of reaching Completion Point under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. DFID works closely with the World Bank and other donors to ensure development assistance is aligned with GRZ's Poverty Reduction Strategy.

PRIME MINISTER

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the letter from his Office dated 27 May, to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Ms R. Hilton, if he will obtain the reply from the Home Office promised in that letter.

Tony Blair: My right hon. Friend, the Minister of State at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr. Hill) has replied to my hon. Friend today.

Empty Houses

Steve Webb: To ask the Prime Minister for how many empty houses his Office is responsible; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: None.

Intelligence Personnel (Geneva Convention)

Lynne Jones: To ask the Prime Minister whether intelligence personnel are required to (a) undertake training in and (b) demonstrate knowledge of the Geneva Convention before undertaking duties.

Tony Blair: The Intelligence and Security Committee has made clear that they will be taking further evidence on these issues and the Government will co-operate fully with them.

Iraq

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Prime Minister when and by whom he was first informed that the Coalition Provisional Authority would hand sovereignty to the Iraqi Interim Government on 28 June.

Tony Blair: Bringing forward the handover of sovereignty to the Interim Iraqi Government had been under consideration for some time. The final decision was only taken when Iraqi Prime Minister lyad Allawi recommended that it was the right thing to do.

Iraq

Jim Cousins: To ask the Prime Minister what representations he has made to (a) the United Nations, (b) the United States of America and (c) the Government of Iraq about the merits of continuing to contribute 5 per cent. of Iraqi oil revenues as war reparation and compensation.

Tony Blair: I have regular discussions with foreign Governments and members of the United Nations on a wide range of issues, including Iraq.
	The contribution of 5 per cent. of Iraqi oil revenues to the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) Compensation Fund for war reparations and compensation was agreed through UN Security Council Resolution 1483 on 22 May 2003 and reaffirmed in UN Security Council Resolution 1546 on 8 June 2004, both of which were supported by the UK.
	Under UN Security Council Resolution 1483, Iraqi payments to the UNCC Compensation Fund can only be changed by a decision of a sovereign Iraqi government and the UNCC Governing Council.

Iraq

Llew Smith: To ask the Prime Minister what response he has made to the letter from the Anglican archbishops on prisoner abuse in Iraq.

Tony Blair: I have replied to the letter today.

ISC Annual Report

Michael Ancram: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the Intelligence and Security Committee's (ISC) Annual Report 200304, paragraph 78, when he received the letter from the ISC; when he replied; and with whom he consulted before answering the letter.

Tony Blair: I received the letter from the Intelligence and Security Committee on 14 May 2004 and replied on 24 May.

ISC Annual Report

Michael Ancram: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  pursuant to the Intelligence and Security Committee's Annual Report 200304, paragraph 78, what follow-up action was taken concerning the complaints by detainees alleged in subsection b; and when it was undertaken;
	(2)  pursuant to the Intelligence and Security Committee's Annual Report 200304, paragraph 78, subsection c, whether the concerns reported to the US authorities by UK security staff were also reported to UK authorities;
	(3)  pursuant to the Intelligence and Security Committee's Annual Report 200304, paragraph 78, when security personnel were made aware that hooding was not acceptable.

Llew Smith: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the single case in which United Kingdom intelligence personnel did not conduct an interview consistent with the principles laid down in the Geneva Convention, to which the Intelligence and Security Committee makes reference at paragraph 78, page 23 of its Annual Report, Cm 6240.

Tony Blair: The Intelligence and Security Committee has made clear that they will be taking further evidence on these issues and the Government will cooperate fully with them.

Lord Levy

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the activities Lord Levy has undertaken on his behalf since 1 January 2003, and if he will list the countries he has visited, and the dates those visits occurred.

Tony Blair: In his capacity of Prime Minister's envoy, Lord Levy undertakes meetings to exchange views on the Middle East Peace Process and issues relating to Latin America and Kazakhstan.
	Since 1 January 2003, Lord Levy undertook the following visits:
	
		
			  Destination 
		
		
			 2003  
			 2223 January Occupied Territories 
			 1921 February United States 
			 12 September Kazakhstan 
			 919 September Mexico, Panama, Peru and Venezuela 
			 2123 September Israel and the Occupied Territories 
			 1 December Switzerland (Geneva) 
			 49 December United States 
			   
			 2004  
			 1921 April Israel 
			 1416 May United States 
			 2427 May Israel 
			 3031 May Jordan and Egypt 
			 23 June Israel and the Occupied Territories

Ministerial Air Travel/Gifts

Paul Marsden: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list for each year since 1997 the number of miles he has flown on official business.

Tony Blair: The information requested is not held.

Ministerial Air Travel/Gifts

Roy Beggs: To ask the Prime Minister what the total cost of air travel between Northern Ireland and Great Britain was for (a) him and (b) staff of his Office in the latest year for which figures are available.

Tony Blair: The average cost for air travel for my Office between Northern Ireland and Great Britain for 200203 was 1,787 per visit.

Ministerial Air Travel/Gifts

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Prime Minister if he will place on the publication scheme of his Office on the website a list of gifts which were given to Ministers between January 1999 and June 2001.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to him on 9 February 2004, Official Report, column 1198W.
	The list of gifts for 200304 received by Ministers and valued at more that 140 is currently being assembled and will be published shortly.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Age Discrimination

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the role of the proposed Commission for Equality and Human Rights will be in relation to age discrimination and (a) employment, (b) poor service and (c) unfair treatment.

Patricia Hewitt: Legislation under the European employment directive to outlaw age discrimination in employment and vocational training is on course to come into force on 1 October 2006. As our White Paper, Fairness for All, has outlined, the Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) will provide institutional support for the provisions on age discrimination, working closely with partner organisations and key stakeholders to provide advice and assistance. The CEHR will be able to advise individuals of their rights under the legislation, and support some people to bring their cases before the courts. In addition, the CEHR will have powers to conduct an investigation into a named party where it has reasonable suspicion that the person is not complying with the statutory requirements of the age regulations. If unlawful discrimination or harassment is found, the CEHR will be able to require the discrimination to stop.
	The CEHR will promote equality of opportunity for people regardless of age. This will allow the CEHR to act in a broad range of areas, not just where there is specific legislative protection in employment and vocational training. For example, in respect of poor service or unfair treatment, the CEHR will promote and encourage good practice, working with central and local government, regional agencies and the private and voluntary sector. As part of this activity, the CEHR will have the power to conduct inquiries into age discrimination generally or unequal outcomes in respect of age.

Business Start-ups (Hyndburn)

Greg Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many new businesses have been established in Hyndburn since 1997.

Nigel Griffiths: Barclays Bank's latest survey of business creation includes non-VAT registered firms and shows that there were 115,000 business start-ups in England and Wales in the last quarter of 2003, including 2,600 business start-ups in the County of Lancashire (which includes Hyndburn parliamentary constituency). The latest yearly figures show 465,000 business start-ups in England and Wales in 2003. This represents a 19 per cent. increase on the year before. In 2003 there were 10,200 business start-ups in the County of Lancashire.
	Barclays data for the County of Lancashire are not available before 2003 and data are not available for Hyndburn parliamentary constituency separately.
	DTI figures based solely on VAT registrations for Hyndburn local authority and Rossendale local authority (which both contain parts of Hyndburn parliamentary constituency) are shown in the following table for the period 1997 to 2002. Data for 2003 will be available in autumn 2004.
	
		VAT registrations: 19972002
		
			  Hyndburn Rossendale 
		
		
			 1997 160 180 
			 1998 175 215 
			 1999 155 185 
			 2000 180 200 
			 2001 180 190 
			 2002 170 170 
		
	
	Source:
	Business Start-ups and Closures: VAT Registrations and De-registrations 19942002, Small Business Service www.sbs.gov.uk/statistics/analytical/vatstats.php
	VAT registrations do not capture all start-up activity. Businesses are unlikely to be registered if they fall below the compulsory VAT threshold, which has risen in each year since 1997. Similarly, businesses that de-register will not necessarily have closed. Only 1.8 million out of 3.8 million enterprises were registered for VAT at the start of 2002.

Clean Coal Technology

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what grants are available from the European Union Framework Programme on Research and Development for clean coal technology.

Stephen Timms: The Sixth framework programme provides support for collaborative RD projects in capture and sequestration of CO 2 associated with cleaner fossil fuel plants. A call for proposals including this area is expected in September.

CHP Plants

Tony Colman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what combined heat and power plants were given power station consents by her Department in (a) 2001, (b) 2002 and (c) 2003; and when they are expected to commence operation.

Stephen Timms: The following is the information requested:
	2001
	Conoco Refinery, South Killingtholme
	Jaguar, Halewood
	Kelloggs, Trafford Park
	Avonmouth
	2002
	Basell Polyolefins, Carrington
	2003
	Polimera Europa, Hythe, Hampshire
	The consents are valid for five years from the date of issue and it is a commercial matter for the developer concerned when to implement his consent.

Renewable Energy

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what level of reserve capacity would be required in order to safeguard continuity of electricity supply from (a) tidal, (b) wave, (c) on-shore wind and (d) off-shore wind electrical generating capacity.

Stephen Timms: This is primarily a matter for the generators.
	The introduction of a significant amount of intermittent renewable generation will require additional reserve capacity in the electricity market and the use of more short-term balancing services. The amount of reserve capacity that will be required depends on the overall mix of generation technologies and the approach taken to address intermittency in different timescales (for example, storage, demand side measures or flexible generation). The electricity trading arrangements give suppliers strong financial incentives to contract ahead to meet the demands of their customers and give generators strong financial incentives to deliver the power they have contracted to provide. It is a commercial matter for all generators, including those producing from the alternative renewable technologies, how they manage the risks associated with variability in the generation from their plant. Market participants are assisted by the information that NGC provides to the market in its role as System Operator about forecast future supply and demand for electricity.

Employment Tribunals

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many cases have been registered in employment tribunals against (a) public and (b) private sector employers in each region in each year since 1997; how many costs awards were made against (i) respondents and (ii) applicants in each region; and what the average cost award was in each region.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Employment Tribunals Service does not collect statistical data on public or private sector employers. Statistical information for individual regions is not readily accessible and could be produced only at disproportionate cost. Parliamentary question number 181218 answered today, provides the UK statistics on the number of registered employment tribunal cases and costs awards since 1997.

Employment Tribunals

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many employment tribunal cases there were in each year since 1997; how many cost awards were made against (a) respondents and (b) applicants; and what the average employment tribunal cost award was in (i) the United Kingdom and (ii) each region.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The following table shows the number of tribunal applications registered by the Employment Tribunals Service in the UK since 1997.
	
		
			  Registered tribunal applications 
		
		
			 200304 115,042 
			 200203 98,617 
			 200102 112,227 
			 200001 130,408 
			 19992000 103,935 
			 199899 91,913 
			 199798 80,435 
			 199697 88,910 
		
	
	The following table illustrates how many employment tribunal cost awards have been made against respondents and applicants in the UK in the last two financial years. The Employment Tribunals Service did not breakdown the statistics for applicants and respondents prior to 200102.
	
		
			  Costs awards against: 
			  Respondent Applicant 
		
		
			 200304 332 644 
			 200203 307 691 
			 200102 169 467 
		
	
	The following table shows the average amount of an employment tribunal cost award in the UK since 1997.
	
		
			  Average cost award () 
		
		
			 200304 1,859 
			 200203 1,524 
			 200102 983 
			 200001 295 
			 19992000 1,155 
			 199899 743 
			 199798 546 
		
	
	Statistical information for individual regions is not readily accessible and could be produced only at disproportionate cost.

End-of-Life Vehicles Directive

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she expects to introduce the Regulations implementing the End-of-Life Vehicles Directive.

Stephen Timms: The End-of-Life Vehicles Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003/2635) brought into effect a number of provisions of the End-of-Life Vehicles Directive (2000/53/EC). Consultation on draft Regulations to implement the remaining provisions of the Directive, which take effect from 2006 onwards, closed on 30 March 2004. 65 responses to the consultation were received and are being assessed. It is the Government's intention to present the End-of-Life Vehicles (Producer Responsibility) Regulations 2004 to the House shortly.

End-of-Life Vehicles Directive

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when proposed Regulations requiring end-of-life vehicles to be delivered to authorised processors will become effective.

Stephen Timms: The End-of-Life Vehicles Regulations 2003 (S.I.2003/2635) came into effect in England and Wales on 3 November 2003, and equivalent legislation was introduced shortly after in Scotland and Northern Ireland. These Regulations set down the arrangements through which businesses may become authorised treatment facilities for the purposes of dealing with end-of-life vehicles, and describe the site and operating conditions with which such businesses must comply.

Equal Opportunities

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the effects of measures aimed at encouraging women to pursue careers in information technology.

Patricia Hewitt: I have been disappointed that this industry remains one of the least attractive Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) areas for girls and women. Despite the initiatives which we have supported so far, the perceptions of IT as not female-friendly are hard to turn around. I am attaching the latest statistics which show a worrying decline of women working in IT. We will continue to support a number of programmes, including Computer Clubs for Girls and the information technology degree being developed by e-Skills UK, the Sector Skills Council for IT sector, which it is hoped will encourage girls and women to seek careers in information technology. We are also working with employers and others to address the situation by encouraging flexible working practices. The new Resource Centre for Women in SET will make working with employers in this area one of their top priorities.
	
		Women in the IT workforce, UK
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 1997 27 
			 1998 23 
			 1999 26 
			 2000 23 
			 2001 22 
			 2002 23 
			 2003 20 
		
	
	Note:
	The decline in women in IT occupations from spring 2002 to spring 2003 is a significant drop, which has not been seen since 1999. This is slightly concerning in that the same period the workforce increased slightly from 1,012,609 to 1,036,066 indicating that the gender balance has worsened.
	Occupational perspectives
	When looking at the gender proportion within each occupational role, women tend to be less well represented in design and creation of technological systemsjust 12 per cent. of software professionals are women (17 per cent. in 2002). Currently women occupy 15 per cent. of all IT management positions and 11 per cent. of IT strategy and planning roles. Both these occupations have seen slight decreases in the proportion of women from 2002 from 19 per cent. and 31 per cent. respectively.
	
		Percentage of total (male+female) IT workforce that are male/female by occupation
		
			 Occupation Male Female 
		
		
			 Information and communication technology managers 85 15 
			 IT strategy and planning professionals 89 11 
			 Software professionals 88 12 
			 IT operations technicians 70 30 
			 IT user support technicians 75 25 
			 Database assistants and clerks 38 62 
			 Computer engineer installation and maintenance 93 (9) 
		
	
	The previous table shows that the largest concentration of female employment continues to be in database, user support and operations occupations. These three occupational areas continue to account for the employment of over half of women in IT (as shown in the following table) and this proportion seems to be growing at the expense of management and software occupations.
	
		Distribution of the female IT workforce by occupation -- Percentage
		
			 Occupation 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Information and communication technology managers 21 19 
			 IT strategy and planning professionals 7 7 
			 Software professionals 21 18 
			 IT operations technicians 15 18 
			 IT user support technicians 8 9 
			 Database assistants and clerks 28 27 
			 Computer engineer installation and maintenance (9) (9) 
		
	
	(9) Figure and percentage suppressed due to cell size of less than 10,000.
	Notes:
	1. All figures are taken from Office for National Statistics, Labour Force Survey, Spring Quarter and are based on Working Age and In Employment with total excluding DNA.
	2. The Standard occupational code changed from 2000 onwards to SOC 2000.
	3. Due to rounding percentage totals may not always equal 100.

Export Credits Guarantee Department

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 15 June 2004, Official Report, column 817W, to the hon. Member for Gordon (Malcolm Bruce), on the Export Credits Guarantee Department, what proportion of the outstanding debt for each country is accounted for by defence or defence related exports.

Mike O'Brien: ECGD only has outstanding debt in respect of defence or defence-related exports in two countries, Indonesia and Zimbabwe. Of the amount owed by Indonesia, 83 per cent. is in respect of defence related exports. In respect of Zimbabwe it is 1 per cent. The Indonesia issue arose out of the problems in that country in 1998. Indonesia is seeking to discharge this debt.

Fur Farms

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the value was in pounds sterling of fur pelts imported into the UK in each year since 1995.

Mike O'Brien: The information is as follows:
	
		UK imports of raw fur skins
		
			   million 
		
		
			 1995 20.2 
			 1996 28.2 
			 1997 20.8 
			 1998 11.8 
			 1999 6.9 
			 2000 7.6 
			 2001 8.6 
			 2002 6.7 
			 2003 6.4 
		
	
	Note:
	Fur pelts are defined by Heading 212 of the Standard International Trade Classification (Revision 3).
	Source:
	Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom, HM Customs and Excise.

Landfill

Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the meetings her officials have had with officials from (a) the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and (b) the Environment Agency on the Environment Agency's draft guidance on (i) monitoring landfill gas engine emissions, (ii) the management of landfill gas, (iii) monitoring trace components in landfill gas and (iv) gas treatment technologies for landfill gas engines; and what the outcomes were.

Stephen Timms: Discussions took place on these issues earlier in the year between officials in my Department, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs and the Environment Agency. Further information about such discussions is being withheld under Exemption 2internal advice and discussion of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information on the grounds that it would harm the frankness and candour of internal deliberations and of confidential communications between Departments.

Nuclear Safety

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the application of the European Court of Justice ruling of 10 December 2002 (C-29/99) to future decisions on nuclear safety in the United Kingdom.

Stephen Timms: In its judgment in Case C-29/99, the European Court of Justice ruled that the Declaration of competence concerning the Euratom Community's accession to the international Convention on Nuclear Safety had failed to include certain fields covered by that Convention in which the Euratom Community had at least some competence. On 15 December 2003, the Council agreed that the Declaration should be amended in line with the Court's judgment. This has no immediate bearing on nuclear safety decisions in the United Kingdom. These are still a matter for the national regulators. However, it remains to be seen how far, if at all, this Court judgment might lead to the development of Euratom measures on nuclear safety that previously would have been regarded as outside the field of Community competence. Any such measures, if agreed, would apply to all member states.

Post Office

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 14 June 2004, Official Report, columns 71819W, on Crown post offices, when the Chief Executive of Post Office Ltd. will provide a substantive reply.

Stephen Timms: I understand that the company has sent a substantive reply to the hon. Member.

Renewable Energy

Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of renewable energy generated in (a) England, (b) Northern Ireland, (c) Scotland and (d) Wales in each year since 1998 was from landfill gas.

Stephen Timms: Information on renewable energy generation is available only for the UK as a whole. Landfill gas use for electricity and heat in the UK in each year since 1998 is as follows:
	
		
			  Thousand tonnes of oil equivalent Landfill gas as a 
			  Landfill gas Total renewables proportion of the total (percentage) 
		
		
			 1998 402.4 2,230.3 18.0 
			 1999 602.0 2,453.3 24.5 
			 2000 731.2 2,524.9 29.0 
			 2001 835.8 2,652.8 31.5 
			 2002 892.1 2,966.3 30.1 
			 2003 1,088.1 3,225.4 33.7 
		
	
	Source:
	Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics.

SPC 2888

Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what documentation she made available to Parsons Energy and Chemicals review of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline;
	(2)  when the Parsons Review into the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline was made available to the Export Credits Guarantee Department.

Mike O'Brien: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, and/or ECGD, did not provide WorleyParsons Energy Services (formally Parsons Energy and Chemicals) with any documentation on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (ETC) oil pipeline.
	WorleyParsons provided ECGD with the following reports: an interim report (in October 2002), the main report on the project (in March 2003) and a desktop study report on the joint field coating (on 27 May 2004). A report on the site visit is currently in preparation.

VAT-registered Enterprises

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 10 June 2004, Official Report, column 570W, to the hon. Member for Southwark, North and Bermondsey (Simon Hughes), on VAT-registered enterprises, if she will express the national and regional business creation data for 2003 as a figure per head of population; and if she will express the national and regional stock of VAT registrations for (a) 1994, (b) 1998 and (c) 1999 to 2003 as a figure per head of population.

Nigel Griffiths: The following tables record Barclays business creation data for each region and London in 2003. Barclays latest survey of business creation only contains 2003 data for the regions and London. The data in the following table have been converted into figures per head using population data found at the Small Business Service website.
	
		Start-up rates per 10,000 resident adults
		
			 2003 Number 
		
		
			 East 109 
			 East Midlands 103 
			 London 143 
			 North East 75 
			 North West 107 
			 South East 118 
			 South West 130 
			 West Midlands 90 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 95 
		
	
	Source:
	Barclays Small Business Survey: http://www.business.barclays.co.uk/. Transformed using data from mid-year 2002 population estimates.
	Data for the number of VAT registrations in 2003 are available in autumn 2004. The number of VAT registrations in 2002 (the latest year available) and the national and regional stock of VAT-registered enterprises for (a) 1994, (b) 1998 and (c) 1999 to 2003 as a figure per head of adult population (aged 16 and over), are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Registrations per 10,000 resident adults(10) Stocks of VAT registered enterprises per 10,000 resident of each year(11) 
			 Country and Government office region 2002 1994 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 England 39 361 370 377 381 384 381 379 
			 Wales 26 351 337 337 334 333 332 327 
			 Scotland 28 297 300 303 303 304 303 303 
			 Northern Ireland 27 439 441 442 440 436 432 430 
			  
			 North East GOR 21 214 212 214 216 218 216 216 
			 North West 33 304 306 311 315 317 317 316 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 31 314 313 316 317 318 315 313 
			 East Midlands 36 349 350 355 356 359 357 356 
			 West Midlands 34 334 339 344 347 350 349 347 
			 East of England 41 394 401 407 410 413 411 410 
			 London 57 429 472 488 495 498 483 475 
			 South East 44 399 410 421 425 430 432 432 
			 South West 37 410 407 411 413 412 410 406 
		
	
	(10) Based on population estimates for mid-2002.
	(11) Based on mid-year population estimates for the previous year.
	Note:
	Data for 2003 will be available in autumn 2004.
	Source:
	Business Start-ups and Closures: VAT Stocks, Small Business Service available from www.sbs.gov.uk/analytical/statistics/vatstats.php.
	VAT registrations do not capture all business activity. Businesses are unlikely to be registered if they fall below the compulsory VAT threshold, which has risen in each year since 1997. Only 1.8 million out of 3.8 million enterprises were registered for VAT at the start of 2002.

Wind Farms

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many 2MW wind turbines would be needed to reach the Government's renewable energy targets.

Stephen Timms: If the Government's 2010 target were met only by 2MW wind turbines then we would need somewhere in the region of 6,0007,000 turbines.
	However, it is more likely that wind will provide around three-quarters of the 10 per cent. target with the rest primarily from a mix of landfill gas, hydro and co-firing with biomass. If this is coupled with the development of significantly larger offshore turbines, (the Irish Arklow Bank site is already installing 3.6 MW turbines), then the number of turbines required is likely to be lower, around 5,0006,000, including both onshore and offshore installations.
	To put this in contextDenmark, a country one-fifth the size of the UK already has over 5,000 turbines installed.

Wind Farms

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the estimated expenditure is up to 2010 on renewable wind turbines in the form of investment aid.

Stephen Timms: The main forms of support that wind receives are via the Renewables Obligation and the Climate Change Levy. These currently amount to 31.39 and 4.30 respectively, for each MWh of electricity generated. Aside from this we have also provided 117 million in capital grants as part of the Round 1 Offshore Wind Programme.
	Future capital grant funding for offshore wind is not yet available as it forms part of the ongoing SR04 spending review.
	Costs to 2010 from the Renewables Obligation and Climate Change Levy are difficult to estimate because they are dependent on the actual amount of wind energy generated. However, if we assume that wind accounts for around three quarters of our 10 per cent. target then support for wind could be in the region of 800M/y by 2010.

Wind Farms

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what expenditure is planned up to 2010 on research and development of forms of renewable energy other than wind power, with particular reference to (a) solar and photovoltaics, (b) tidal power, (c) wave power, (d) turbines, (e) biomass and (f) biogas.

Stephen Timms: Expenditure on renewables to 2010 is currently being assessed as part of the ongoing SR04 spending review, which has been closely informed by the recent Renewables Innovation Review.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Pensions

Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the comparative pension provision for those in the 10-year age bands (a) 3039, (b) 4049, (c) 5059 and (d) 6069.

Malcolm Wicks: In 200203, 51 per cent., 56 per cent., 55 per cent. and 55 per cent. of those in the four age bands stated in the question were either contributing to a non-state pension, or were in receipt of one based on their own prior provision for retirement.

Pensions

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the current average time is that a new widow over state pension age has to wait for her new rate of retirement pension to be calculated; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: I can confirm that the current clearance time for these cases is just over 93 per cent. within 15 days.
	If the customer is in financial hardship, interim payments may be made whilethe new pension rate is calculated.

Pensions

John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what action he plans to take to reduce the number of people retiring on to means-tested pensions in future years.

Malcolm Wicks: We are taking action in the pensions bill to promote future pension saving. The creation of the new Pensions Regulator and the Pensions Protection Fund will enhance protection for pension scheme members and improve confidence in pension provision in general. We are also introducing incentives to extend working lives through more generous rewards for deferring state pension. Other initiatives include the introduction of low cost saving products and the provision of more information so that people can make informed decisions about planning for their retirement.
	Our reform of SERPS into state second pension has allowed around 20 million people the prospect of building bigger entitlements than they would have had under the old scheme. In addition state second pension will provide much more generous pensions for low and moderate earners and, for the first time, carers and long-term disabled people with broken work records will be able to build up a significant state second pension.

Child Support

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many child support cases are calculated according to the (a) new and (b) old formula.

Chris Pond: By the end of May over 180,000 new scheme cases had been dealt with.
	As at the end of March, the old scheme caseload was around 1,080,000.

Child Support

Andrew Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will amend child support legislation so that child care and nursery costs are treated as protected expenditure when maintenance is calculated.

Chris Pond: No. It would not be right for the child support formula to make an allowance for the child care and nursery costs of any working parent. To do so would provide an element of double provision for these costs, as help with child care costs is given in other schemes.

Child Support

Andrew Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will amend child support legislation to introduce a more flexible requirement for meeting the condition of shared care.

Chris Pond: We have no plans to make further amendments to child support legislation for shared care.
	In the new scheme the level at which a reduction in child support liability begins is 52 nights a year. This is a reduction from 104 nights a year in the old child support scheme.
	This strikes a balance between recognising the additional costs to the non-resident parent of looking after a child while not being so generous as to discourage the parent with care from allowing care to be shared.

Child Support

Andrew Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a further statement on when the new system for calculating child maintenance will be extended to existing cases.

Chris Pond: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Castle Point (Bob Spink) on 18 December 2003, Official Report, column 1092W.

Working at Height Regulations

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent representations he has received from the outdoor activities industry in relation to the proposed working at height regulations.

Jane Kennedy: In addition to correspondence from hon. members of this House, on 23 June, I met with the hon. Member for Bedfordshire, North East, other hon. Members and noble peers and representatives from the outdoor activities sector to listen to their views about how they believe these proposed regulations might affect this sector.

Jobcentre Plus

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the roll-out of Jobcentre Plus.

Jane Kennedy: The development of Jobcentre Plus is building on the high quality service already provided by social security offices and Jobcentres by delivering a single, integrated service to all people of working age. We recently opened Jobcentre Plus's 500th new office, in Middlesbrough.
	This is only the half way point. Transforming the second half of the Jobcentre Plus network will be just as challenging. But by 2006, we will have a service for people of working age that will be unrivalled across the world.

New Deal

Mike Hall: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people he estimates have been helped into work as a result of the New Deal.

Jane Kennedy: The New Deals have been a tremendous success in helping to achieve record levels of employment, with more than one million people helped into work through the programme, including over 1,900 people in the Weaver Vale constituency.
	Last month we announced our plans to build on the success of the New Deals by removing the many different rules for different groups. We will bring all our support together under one single New Deal, which will give Jobcentre Plus Advisers more flexibility to tailor help to the needs of people facing the greatest problems in finding work.

Asbestos

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will extend the Health and Safety at Work (etc.) Act 1979, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 to cover the management of asbestos in domestic premises.

Jane Kennedy: Following the introduction of the new duty to manage asbestos in non-domestic premises (regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations), HSE is looking into the case for extending the duty to certain domestic premises, for example, rented properties.
	Any proposal to make or amend health and safety legislation would be subject to full public consultation.

Attendance Allowance

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the (a) average and (b) maximum time taken by his Department to reinstate attendance allowance following suspension for the duration of a hospital stay in the latest year for which figures are available.

Maria Eagle: The information requested is not available.

Benefit Appeals

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many presenting officers in Scotland are available to attend (a) disability living allowance and (b) attendance allowance appeal tribunals.

Maria Eagle: There are four presenting officers available, who present complex appeal cases at the appeal tribunals for both Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance appeals in Scotland; two are based in Glasgow and two in Edinburgh.

Benefit Payments

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people over 60 have started claiming (a) council tax benefit and (b) housing benefit as a direct result to being found to be eligible following an application for pension credit.

Chris Pond: The information is not currently available.

Child Support Agency

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many operational staff work in the (a) old and (b) new Child Support Agency systems.

Chris Pond: holding answer 1 July 2004
	The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to my right hon. Friend with the information requested.
	Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. Frank Field, dated 5 July 2004
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many operational staff work in the (a) old and (b) new Child Support Agency systems.
	As at 31 March 2004 around 4,100 staff were involved in work directly related to old scheme activity and 3,200 staff in activity directly related to applications made in accordance with the new child support legislation.

Civil Partnerships

Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the cost to public funds of treating same-sex couples in the same way as married couples if they attain civil partnerships for the purposes of (a) benefits, (b) state pensions prospectively from the start of the civil partnership and (c) state pensions on the same basis as married couples where previous pension contributions are counted.

Maria Eagle: Estimates of the cost to the public funds of extending benefits and pensions to same-sex couples are included in the Regulatory Impact Assessment which was published alongside the Civil Partnership Bill.
	Entitlement to state pensions for civil partners is calculated on the basis of a partner's full national insurance contribution record, in the same way as for married couples.

Council Tax Benefit

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many council tax benefit recipients there are, broken down by council tax band; and what percentage each represents of the total number of council tax benefit recipients.

Chris Pond: The information is in the table.
	
		Number and percentage of council tax benefit recipients by council tax band, as at May 2002
		
			 Council tax band Council tax benefit recipients (Thousand) Council tax benefit recipients by council tax band (Percentage) 
		
		
			 Total 4,602 100.0 
			 A 2,286 49.7 
			 B 1,112 24.2 
			 C 746 16.2 
			 D 307 6.7 
			 E 112 2.4 
			 F 29 0.6 
			 G 9 0.2 
			 H (12) (12) 
		
	
	(12) Data negligible.
	Notes:
	1. The figures are based on a 1 per cent. sample and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation.
	2. The data refers to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple.
	3. The caseload figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand, and percentages to one decimal place.
	4. The totals may not sum due to rounding.
	5. Council tax benefit totals exclude any second adult rebate cases.
	Source:
	Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System, Annual 1 per cent. sample, taken in May 2002.

Direct Payment

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his statement on Direct Payment, Departmental Report 2004, page 74, by what methods he intends to contact customers who have not yet responded to the initial mailing; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Pond: We are beginning to contact again those customers who have not responded to our initial mailing. This process involves a variety of methods including invitation letters; telephone calls and in some circumstances visits. We are supporting this approach through our Information Campaign, which is being further developed to provide customers with more information about their account options. We have also introduced a procedure whereby customers can volunteer to convert to direct payment by telephoning the Information Line.
	Key figures on the progress of conversion to direct payment are available in the Library and are updated every four weeks.

Direct Payment

Adrian Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Taunton have been contacted about converting to direct payment of benefits; how many people in Taunton have converted to direct payment since the conversion process started; and how many people in Taunton are still to be contacted about converting to direct payment.

Chris Pond: We do not have the information requested. This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	Key figures on the progress of conversion to direct payment are available in the Library and are updated every four weeks.

DLA

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many recipients of the mobility element of disability living allowance are between the ages of 66 and 75;
	(2)  how many recipients of the mobility element of disability living allowance have lost that benefit on attaining the upper age limit in each of the last three years;
	(3)  how many applications for the mobility element of disability living allowance were disallowed in each of the last three years on the grounds that the applicants were over the age limit.

Maria Eagle: Recipients of the mobility component of Disability living allowance do not lose their entitlement to it because they reach age 65. As at 29 February 2004, the latest date for which information is available, some 432,700 people between the age of 66 and 75 were receiving the component 1 . Figures are not available for the number of claims for the component that are disallowed because the customer was aged 65 or over.
	1 Source IAD Information Centre
	Note
	Figure taken from a 5 per cent. sample and rounded to the nearest hundred. From November 2002, the methodology for producing such figures was changed to allow statistics to be published much sooner. This has resulted in a small increase in the reported caseload. This is because some cases which have actually terminated but have not yet been updated on the computer system are now included.

Economic Inactivity

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress has been made in tackling economic inactivity.

Jane Kennedy: Through a combination of economic stability and radical labour market reforms, more than 1.9 million more people are in work now than in 1997 and unemployment is at its lowest level for nearly 30 years.
	Since May 1997 the number of people on inactive benefits has reduced and the number of lone parents on benefit has fallen by nearly 200,000. We are making significant progress in reducing the numbers of people coming on to incapacity benefitsdown by more than a quarter in the past seven years. Through Pathways to Work pilots, we are making substantial steps forward in finding the best ways to actively support more people into work.
	The independent report by Professors Gordon Waddell and Kirn Burton on the Concepts of Rehabilitation for the Management of Common Health Problems, strongly endorses the innovative approach to rehabilitation which we are evaluating in the Pathways to Work pilots.

Employment Assistance (Coventry, South)

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps the Government have taken to increase job seeking services in the constituency of Coventry, South since 1997.

Jane Kennedy: holding answer 30 June 2004
	I refer my hon. Friend to the Written Answer I gave him on 29 June 2004, Official Report, columns 23334W.

Environmental Sustainability

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department has joined the Watermark project.

Chris Pond: The former Department of Social Security joined the Watermark project in 2000 and those arrangements continued following the formation of the Department for Work and Pensions in 2001.

Expatriate Pensioners

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many British expatriate pensioners have received letters requesting they provide evidence of their continuing entitlement to a British pension in each of the past five years; how many are expected to receive a letter (a) this year and (b) in each of the next five years; how many have had their pensions (i) reduced and (ii) removed as a result; whether financial savings have been made; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: DWP administers state retirement pension to almost one million customers in over 200 countries worldwide, via International Pension Centre (IPC).
	In response to an issue identified by National Audit Office in the mid 90s, a strategy was introduced to confirm eligibility for state pension, and provide an acceptable level of assurance to Ministers, by way of issue and subsequent check of a letter sent to all customers living aboard. The strategy is designed to ensure that all customers will receive a letter within a maximum five year period.
	In the past five years, for period 1999 to 2003, IPC have issued a total of some 850,000 letters, known as life certificates. This represents an average issue of approximately 170,000 letters per year. These are sent to all customers who have entitlement to UK state pension, including, but not exclusively, British expatriate pensioners.
	The current strategy is to send out approximately 200,000 letters per year to check entitlement, to ensure that all of the one million customers are contacted within a five year period. This is expected to continue over the next five years.
	An average of 4,900 pensioners worldwide have had their pensions stopped as a result of the exercise each year, totalling 24,500 over the last five years. This has resulted in financial savings of 26.5 million in the period 1999 to 2003, at an average of 5.1 million per year.
	There are very few circumstances where a state pension would be reduced and occurrences are rare. The life certificate exercise predominantly either confirms entitlement or leads to cessation of entitlement.

Means-tested Benefits

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were eligible for means-tested benefits in (a) May 1997 and (b) May 2004.

Malcolm Wicks: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information that is available is tabled as follows.
	
		Number of people that were either in receipt or were entitled to but not receiving the following income-related benefits, thousands
		
			  Income support/minimum income guarantee Housing benefit Council tax benefit Income-based jobseeker's allowance Family credit 
		
		
			 199798 3,990:4,580 4,650:5,010 6,580:7,040 1,220:1,440 940:990 
			 199899 3,890:4,400 4,820:6,480 6,480:6,980 1,130:1,370 950:1,010 
			 19992000 3,960:4,510 4,710:6,270 6,270:6,850 1,100:1,270  
			 200001 4,030:4,500 4,510:6,150 6,150:6,700 1,030:1,180  
			 200102 4,330:4,840 6,370:6,950 6,370:6,950 1,030:1,240  
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Estimates are presented as ranges to reflect the uncertainty in the number of estimated entitled non-recipients based on DWP Family Resources Survey data.
	2. Estimates relate to financial years; the latest statistics cover 200102.
	3. Estimates cover the private household population in Great Britain.

Means-tested Benefits

Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the means-tested benefits available through his Department and the agencies for which it is responsible (a) in May 1997 and (b) now.

Chris Pond: The agencies of The Department for Work and Pensions are Jobcentre Plus, The Pensions Service, The Child Support Agency, The Appeals Service and The Rent Service.
	The income-related benefits available in 1997 were Income Support, Social Fund, Income Based Jobseekers Allowance, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit.
	In 2004, the income-related benefits available are Income Support, Social Fund, Income Based Jobseekers Allowance, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit and Pension Credit.

Miners' Compensation Scheme

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which benefits are (a) regarded and (b) disregarded for widows of former miners following payment for personal injury under the Miners' Compensation Scheme.

Jane Kennedy: Any capital in excess of the basic disregarded amounts will affect entitlement to all the income-related benefits: income support, income-based job seekers allowance, pension credit, housing benefit and council tax benefit. Where capital exceeds a maximum threshold, entitlement will be reduced to nil. The thresholds vary for the different benefits.
	Capital does not affect the non-income-related benefits, which are based solely on contribution records of the claimant or, in the case of bereavement benefits, their late spouse.

Older People

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on how the UN principles on older people will be reflected within the Department's work programme.

Malcolm Wicks: The Department is contributing to the action the Government is taking to prepare for the challenges and opportunities of our ageing society in a way that is fully consistent with the UN principles for older people. The introduction of safeguards to protect pension provision, our Informed Choice strategy which empowers people to make better choices about work and retirement, tackling pensioner poverty through Pension Credit, creating incentives to extend working life and improving services through a dedicated Pension Service will enable older people to live independently and participate fully in society.

Parliamentary Questions

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 4 March 2004, Official Report, column 1040W, on Benefit Payments (Pensioners), what the comparable figures are for (a) 1997, (b) 2000 and (c) 2010.

Malcolm Wicks: The proportion of individuals aged 60 years or older in receipt of income-related benefits for the 1997 and 2000 is set out in the table. We do not have forecasts for 2010 as this depends on a wide range of assumptionsincluding about policy decisions that future Parliaments will take. But a projected figure is provided in the following table. This projection is contingent on the assumptions set out in the notes.
	
		
			  Proportion (Percentage) 
		
		
			 1997 (Outturn) 32 
			 2000 (Outturn) 29 
			 2010 (projection) 33 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. For the projection, it has been assumed that pensioners' incomes will rise in line with average earnings; that the guarantee element will be uprated in line with average earnings; and that the savings element threshold will be uprated in line with prices.
	2. It has also been assumed that the eligible population will tend to rise in line with the general projected growth of the pensioner population.
	Sources:
	Outturn: IAD Information Centre 100 per cent. and 1 per cent. scans.
	Projection: IAD Benefit Forecasting and Model Development Division.

Pensions

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the steps he is taking to tackle pensioner poverty.

Malcolm Wicks: We have taken many steps to tackle pensioner poverty, including the introduction of Pension Credit and Winter Fuel Payments, and since 2000, a 7 per cent. real rise in the level of the Basic State Pension. As a result, during 200405 we will be spending nearly 10 billion more on pensioners, including 5 billion more on the poorest third. This means that the poorest pensioners are on average 33 a week better off than they would have been under the 1997 system.
	I am today publishing in the Library a review of the Pension Credit campaign to May 2004. This shows that Pension Credit is playing a vital role in helping to give more money to the people who need it most. Over 3 million pensioners are benefiting, with over 2.2 million individuals receiving more money than they did before.

Pensions

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the funding he has committed to provide assistance to occupational pension scheme members who will not be covered by the pension protection fund.

Malcolm Wicks: I refer the hon. Member to the oral answer I gave to the hon. Member for Mid-Bedfordshire (Mr. Sayeed) earlier today.

Pensions

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many of the seven million people who it is estimated, based on evidence from the Family Resoures Survey 200102, will remain without second-tier pension arrangements (a) are self-employed, (b) earn less than the lower earnings limit, (c) are unemployed and (d) are other non-contributors.

Malcolm Wicks: I refer the hon. Member to the Written Answer I gave my right hon. Friend the Member for Birkenhead (Mr. Field) on 1 May 2003, Official Report, column 491W.

Pensions

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pension credit application forms (a) have been sent out, (b) have been returned, (c) were adjusted after receipt by the Pension Service and (d) led to successful claims for pension credit.

Malcolm Wicks: As at 31 May, 1.66 million application forms had been issued by the Pension Credit application line. At the same date, 1.22 million completed forms had been returned and 863,000 applications for Pension Credit had been successful. Information on the number of cases in which an application form was amended because of new information is not available.
	Not all applications for Pension Credit originate from a call to the application line. A relatively small number of customers will have obtained an application form from another source, for example through one of the external organisations with whom we are working at local level. Information on the number of such cases is not available.
	Note:
	Figures are rounded to the nearest 1,000.

Pensions

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in Scotland were in receipt of pension credit in Scotland in each month from 31 January.

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) individuals and (b) households have received pension credit in (i) Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale, (ii) the Scottish Borders region and (iii) Scotland since October 2003; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: The information is given in the table.
	
		Pension credit recipients in Scotland, Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale and the Scottish Borders, October 2003 to May 2004
		
			  Scotland Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale  (parliamentary constituency) The Scottish Borders  (Local authority) 
			  Households Individuals Households Individuals Households Individuals 
		
		
			 October 2003 201,550 234,835 1,940 2,255 3,980 4,700 
			 November 2003 217,065 255,570 2,165 2,560 4,485 5,380 
			 December 2003 223,060 263,290 2,280 2,685 4,760 5,710 
			 January 2004 227,990 269,695 2,390 2,830 4,935 5,945 
			 February 2004 237,045 281,470 2,525 2,990 5,200 6,275 
			 March 2004 248,605 296,080 2,710 3,225 5,560 6,740 
			 April 2004 253,520 302,255 2,755 3,280 5,600 6,775 
			 May 2004 259,370 309,935 2,830 3,380 5,720 6,935 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 5.
	2. Pension credit replaced the Minimum Income Guarantee on 6 October 2003.
	3. Individual recipients include a small number of partners under age 60.

Pensions

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when his Department will respond to the requests by Mrs. Giles of Christchurch (Ref: ZP660966C) for her pension to be paid into her building society account; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Pond: holding answer 28 June 2004
	I have written to the hon. Member today.

Residence Orders

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what financial support his Department makes available to grandparents who obtain a residence order in respect of a grandchild.

Chris Pond: Subject to the usual rules of entitlement, the full range of social security benefits and tax credits is available to grandparents who are responsible for a grandchild living with them.
	Additionally, a grandparent who provides day-to-day care for a child can choose to use the services of the Child Support Agency.

Student Loans

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the treatment of student loans by the benefit system.

Chris Pond: Full-time students are not generally entitled to receive income-related benefits while studying unless they are in a vulnerable group such as disabled people or lone parents. Where a student is eligible for a loan, it is taken into account as income when deciding entitlement with an amount disregarded for books, equipment and travel. We will be laying regulations this week to increase these disregards for the next academic year.

Sure Start Maternity Grant

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many mothers in Tamworth have taken up the Sure Start maternity grant.

Chris Pond: The information is in the tables.
	
		Sure Start Maternity Grants for area covered by Staffordshire Social Fund District
		
			  Applications Awards 
		
		
			 200001 2,830 2,498 
			 200102 3,502 3,024 
			 200203 to October 2,659 2,221 
		
	
	
		Sure Start Maternity Grants for area covered by Staffordshire Jobcentre Plus District
		
			  Applications Awards 
		
		
			 200203 from November 2,142 1,648 
			 200304 5,504 4,199 
			 200405 to May 961 680 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Tamworth parliamentary constituency was part of the Staffordshire Social Fund District. In November 2002, Staffordshire Social Fund District was combined with parts of Burton Social Fund District to form Staffordshire Jobcentre Plus District. The two areas for which data is given are different, therefore the data is not comparable.
	2. A very small area of Tamworth parliamentary constituency falls into another Jobcentre Plus District for which data is not separately available.
	3. Sure Start Maternity Grants were introduced on 27 March 2000. There were no applications recorded in the Staffordshire district during 19992000.
	4. Data is given for all applications and awards, irrespective of whether the application was made by the mother or her partner.
	Source:
	DWP Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information System.

Winter Fuel Allowance

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cut-off date is this year beyond which those turning 70 years will not qualify for the extra 100 winter fuel allowance.

Malcolm Wicks: It is intended that the one-off 70-plus payment will be made to someone who is aged 70 on or before 26 September 2004 and who is ordinarily resident in Great Britain for at least one day in the week of 20 to 26 September 2004.
	The intention is for the payments to be made automatically with the 200405 winter fuel payment, to those who are eligible and who do not need to claim it, before the end of the year. People who do not get a winter fuel payment will need to claim the one-off payment from the Department for Work and Pensions before 31 March 2005.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Absent Ballot Papers

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many absent ballot papers were applied for in each constituency in Northern Ireland at the recent European parliamentary elections; and what percentage of the total electorate this represented in each case.

John Spellar: The number of absent votes cast as a percentage of the electorate, and the total number of applications, is detailed as follows:
	
		
			 Constituency Absent vote applications (Total) Absent votes accepted Percentage of eligible electorate 
		
		
			 Belfast East 475 454 0.912 
			 Belfast North 584 552 1.116 
			 Belfast South 591 561 1.137 
			 Belfast West 814 735 1.506 
			 East Antrim 432 426 0.781 
			 E. Londonderry 1,496 1,377 2.503 
			 Fermanagh and South Tyrone 4,913 4,506 7.076 
			 Foyle 1,739 1,587 2.512 
			 Lagan Valley 922 863 1.319 
			 Mid Ulster 2,796 2,610 4.410 
			 Newry and Armagh 2,090 1,834 2.703 
			 North Antrim 1,235 1,177 1.684 
			 North Down 537 527 0.943 
			 South Antrim 532 516 0.819 
			 South Down 1,664 1,595 2.326 
			 Strangford 645 623 0.964 
			 Upper Bann 1,149 1,082 1.603 
			 West Tyrone 3,200 2,840 4.990 
			 Total 25,814 23,865 2.225

Andersonstown Newspaper Group

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much public funding has been given to the Andersonstown Newspaper Group; from which departments it originated; and how much each has contributed.

Barry Gardiner: The Andersonstown News Group publishes the Andersonstown News, the North Belfast News and the South Belfast News. It also has management responsibility for the publication of the Irish language daily newspaper L on behalf of Preas an Phobail Ltd.
	Set out are details of the funding made available by the Northern Ireland Administration during the period 19992004.
	
		
			  Company  Funder Amount funded () 
		
		
			 Andersonstown News Department of Finance and Personnel 5,095 
			 Andersonstown News Department of Social Development 347,375 
			 Andersonstown News Local Enterprise Development Unit 7,500 
			 Preas an Phobail Ltd. (13)Department of Finance and Personnel/Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister 33,500 
			 Preas an Phobail Ltd. Local Enterprise Development Unit 30,026 
			 Preas an Phobail Ltd. (14)Foras na Gaeilge 128,139 
		
	
	(13) The Department of Finance and Personnel was responsible for funding until December 1999 when responsibility for funding transferred to the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister under Devolution.
	(14) Foras na Gaeilge (the Irish Language Agency of the North/South Language Implementation Body) is funded jointly by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) in Northern Ireland and the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (DCRGA) in the Republic of Ireland. DCAL contributes 25 per cent. and DCGRA contributes 75 per cent. of the funding. The total contribution from Foras na Gaeilge to Preas an Phobail for the publication of L during the period 1999 to 29 June 2004 was 512,558. DCAL contributed 25 per cent. of this amount128,139.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps are being taken to ensure the full implementation of antisocial behaviour orders in Northern Ireland; and when the draft Anti-social Behaviour (Northern Ireland) Order will come into effect.

John Spellar: The draft Anti-social Behaviour (Northern Ireland) Order 2004 was laid before Parliament on 28 June 2004. Subject to parliamentary consideration, the aim is for legislation to be made by the end of July.

Autism

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to improve respite services for autism sufferers.

Angela Smith: Although there are no specific plans in respect of respite services for autism sufferers, Priorities for Action 2004/05 requires that boards and trusts should develop the range of community learning disability services, with particular emphasis on community support teams, community placements and day and respite care provision to support those living in the community. This action, which will include services relating to autism, has been allocated additional funding.

Autism

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what consideration has been given to creating a regional facility for autism respite.

Angela Smith: The development of services for children with autism is a departmental priority and 0.5 million has been made available for this purpose in 200405. It is important, however, that services are locally accessible and there are no plans to provide a specialist province wide centre for autism respite.

Bloody Sunday Trust/Pat Finucane Centre

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much public funding has been allocated to (a) the Bloody Sunday Trust in Londonderry and (b) the Pat Finucane Centre in Londonderry in each of the last five years.

John Spellar: Public funding has been allocated to (a) the Bloody Sunday Trust in Londonderry and (b) the Pat Finucane Centre in Londonderry in each of the last five years as follows:
	
		
		
			  (a) Bloody Sunday Trust (b) Pat Finucane Centre 
		
		
			 19992000 58,700 412 
			 200001 26,065 1,950 
			 200102  3,000 
			 200203  2,964 
			 200304  2,050

CCTV

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which town centres in Northern Ireland have CCTV systems in operation.

John Spellar: At present there are 17 town centre CCTV systems operating in Northern Ireland, which have received assistance from public funds. The relevant cities and towns are:
	Armagh
	Ballymena
	Ballynahinch
	Banbridge
	Belfast
	Coleraine
	Craigavon
	Dungannon
	Dunmurry
	Fivemiletown
	Hillsborough
	Lisburn
	Londonderry
	Moira
	Moy
	Omagh
	Portadown
	Assistance from public funds has also been given to two further systems in Maghera and Magherafelt, which are expected to become operational shortly. Finally, I have recently agreed to provide funding to Newtownabbey borough council to assist with the establishment of a new CCTV system in Glengormley town centre.
	There may be other town centres which have had CCTV cameras installed, without assistance from central Government and we would not be aware of the full extent of such systems.
	On 14 June 2004, I announced that Government had made available a further 2 million to assist with the development of CCTV in Northern Ireland, including funding for the development of new town centre systems as well as the expansion and enhancement of current systems.

Civil Servants (Industrial Action)

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many recipients of incapacity benefit in Northern Ireland are waiting for overdue payments from the Department for Social Development.

John Spellar: It is not possible to quantify the number of cases affected at any given time, except at disproportionate cost.
	However priority is always given to maintaining continuity of payment to existing incapacity benefit customers. There will, however, always be cases in the system where payment may be overdue, for example, while awaiting receipt of medical evidence or information from the customer.

Civil Servants (Industrial Action)

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many applications for incapacity benefit have been delayed because of the current industrial action by civil servants.

John Spellar: In the period December 2003 to March 2004 staff responsible for the processing of applications for incapacity benefit participated in various forms of industrial action; overall about 720 man-days were lost.
	There has been no industrial action affecting this area of work since then and at present there should be no cases where payment has been delayed due to industrial action.
	As a result of training and the implementation of a new computer system, the new applications in hand have increased from a normal workload of 2,600 fresh claims to 3,700 for the week ending 25 June 2004. In May 2004 incapacity benefit branch performance for fresh claims was 31 days against a target of 28, and the year to date performance was 30 days.
	A recovery plan has been in operation with the result that the number of outstanding applications for incapacity benefit should be at normal levels by August 2004. This situation is being closely monitored.

Civil Servants (Industrial Action)

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many recipients of incapacity benefit have had payments delayed as a result of the current industrial action by civil servants.

John Spellar: In the period December 2003 to March 2004 staff responsible for the processing of applications for incapacity benefit participated in various forms of industrial action; overall about 720 man-days were lost.
	There has been no industrial action affecting this area of work since then.
	Priority is always given to maintaining continuity of payment to existing incapacity benefit customers. There will, however, always be cases in the system where payment may be delayed, for example, while awaiting receipt of medical evidence or information from the customer.
	It is not possible to quantify the number of cases affected at any given time, except at a disproportionate cost to the Department.
	At present there should be no cases where payment has been delayed due to industrial action.

Civil Servants (Industrial Action)

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many cases awaiting determination of an (a) employment and (b) industrial tribunal have been delayed as a result of the current Civil Service industrial action.

Barry Gardiner: All cases awaiting determination have been delayed as a result of the current civil service industrial action. The Industrial Tribunals and Fair Employment Tribunal cases listed for hearing from week commencing 24 May 2004 through to week commencing 5 July 2004 have been postponed at the Tribunal's own motion and will be rescheduled as soon as possible. These postponements have a knock-on effect on other cases awaiting determination.

Civil Service Recruitment

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he, his Ministers and Officials have had in 2004 with the Northern Ireland Civil Service Commissioners regarding (a) recruitment competition SC/18/03 and (b) nationality requirements.

Ian Pearson: The selection procedures for all Senior Competitions (including competition SC/18/03) are quality assured by the Northern Ireland Civil Service Commissioners. The Commissioners' Office formally approve the recruitment documentation prior to advertising, following receipt of applications, following interviews and prior to formal offer of appointment.
	At a meeting between senior officials and the Northern Ireland Civil Service Commissioners in April there was discussion on the Commissioners' remit in respect of nationality requirement for the public service posts within the Northern Ireland Civil Service.

Civil Service Recruitment

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people have been ruled ineligible in 2004 for advertised posts in the Northern Ireland Civil Service on the grounds that they (a) are not UK nationals and (b) are Irish nationals.

Ian Pearson: Three candidates were ruled ineligible for advertised posts in 2004 on the grounds that they were not UK nationals. Of these, one was identified as an Irish national.

Civil Service Recruitment

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many advertised posts have been reserved in the Northern Ireland Civil Service in 2004.

Ian Pearson: 34 NICS posts advertised in 2004 (to date) were reserved.

Civil Service Recruitment

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his estimate is of the cost of running Civil Service competition SC/18/03, including the time spent by officials and others on this competition; and what the costs were in respect of posts for which appointments were not made.

Ian Pearson: The costs for competition SC/18/03 were:
	
		Actual Charges
		
			   thousands 
		
		
			 Advertising Costs 21,024 
			 Travel and Subsistence Costs 1,500 
		
	
	
		Notional Charges
		
			   thousands 
		
		
			 Recruitment Service Costs  (Based on Average Salary Figures) 2,295 
		
	
	Only one of three posts was filled from this competition.

Civil Service Recruitment

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what appointments have been made in the Civil Service competition SC/18/03; and in the cases where appointments have not been made, why that is the case.

Ian Pearson: This competition resulted in one of three posts being filled. The competition did not attract candidates of sufficient calibre to fill all the posts.

Civil Service Recruitment

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Newry and Armagh (Mr. Mallon), Official Report, column 421W, on the Northern Ireland Court Service, how many (a) Reserved and (b) Non-Reserved posts were advertised by the Northern Ireland Civil Service in each of the last five years in grades equivalent to those for which posts were Reserved in the Northern Ireland Court Service.

Ian Pearson: The Northern Ireland Civil Service has advertised 132 competitions in the last five years at grades equivalent to those for which posts were Reserved in the Northern Ireland Court Service. Of these competitions, 105 were designated Non-Public Service (ie Non-Reserved) and 27 were designated Public Service (ie Reserved). The following table details the competitions advertised annually:
	
		
			 Grade Reserved Non-Reserved Total 
		
		
			 1999
			 Grade 3 1  1 
			 Grade 5  3 3 
			 Grade 7 1 11 12 
			 Deputy Principal  4 4 
			 Staff Officer  1 1 
			 Admin Officer/Assistant
			 SGBII
			 SGBI
			 Total 2 19 21 
			 
			 2000
			 Grade 3  1 1 
			 Grade 5 4 9 13 
			 Grade 7  2 2 
			 Deputy Principal 1 8 9 
			 Staff Officer  8 8 
			 Admin Officer/ Assistant  2 2 
			 SGBII
			 SGBI
			 Total 5 30 35 
			 
			 2001
			 Grade 3
			 Grade 5 2 6 8 
			 Grade 7 1 2 3 
			 Deputy Principal  7 7 
			 Staff Officer 1 5 6 
			 Admin Officer/ Assistant  2 2 
			 SGBII
			 SGBI
			 Total 4 22 26 
			 
			 2002
			 Grade 3 1 1 2 
			 Grade 5 (15)2 6 8 
			 Grade 7  1 1 
			 Deputy Principal 2 4 6 
			 Staff Officer 1 7 8 
			 Admin Officer/Assistant
			 SGBII
			 SGBI
			 Total 6 19 25 
			 
			 2003
			 Grade 3 1 1 2 
			 Grade 5 5 8 13 
			 Grade 7 1 1 2 
			 Deputy Principal 2 3 5 
			 Staff Officer 1 2 3 
			 Admin Officer/Assistant
			 SGBII
			 SGBI
			 Total 10 15 25 
		
	
	(15) One competition (Public Expenditure Posts) required candidates to satisfy the requirements for a Reserved (Public Service) post. Successful candidates were however taken from this competition to fill vacancies in both Reserved (Public Service) and Non-Reserved (Non-Public Service) posts.

Endoscopes

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which hospitals in the Province use automated endoscope cleaners; and when use of this process commenced at each hospital.

Angela Smith: The hospitals that use automated endoscope reprocessors are as follows.
	The date of introduction of the process in each hospital is not available.
	Hospital
	Royal Group of Hospitals
	Ulster Hospital
	Belfast City Hospital
	Mater Hospital
	Antrim Hospital
	Whiteabbey Hospital
	Causeway Hospital
	Altnagelvin Hospital
	Craigavon Area Hospital
	Tyrone County Hospital
	Daisy Hill Hospital
	Erne Hospital
	Lagan Valley Hospital

Fertility Treatment

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the (a) latest average waiting time and (b) current longest waiting time for an initial out-patient appointment for fertility treatment in Northern Ireland is; and how many couples are waiting for such an appointment.

Angela Smith: The information requested is not collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Gas Price Increases

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the intended rise in domestic gas prices in Northern Ireland by the largest gas supplier.

Barry Gardiner: The gas price increase, proposed earlier this year by Phoenix Natural Gas, remains suspended pending completion of the company's wholesale gas supply agreement negotiations with Centrica.

Grammar Schools

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many lower graded pupils admitted to grammar schools were upgraded as a result of representations on special circumstances made to the schools by (a) parents and (b) primary principals in each of the last three years.

Barry Gardiner: This information is not centrally available. Admissions decisions, including the consideration of claims of special circumstances, are entirely a matter for the Boards of Governors of individual grammar schools.
	When a grammar school receives its applications they consider those claiming special circumstances first and decide on the merits of each case. Those that are considered to warrant a higher grade are then considered alongside the other applications with that higher grade when the admissions criteria are applied. The school will then admit pupils up to its approved admissions number.

Homeless People (Accommodation)

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) unannounced and (b) announced inspections the Northern Ireland Housing Executive has made of accommodation for homeless people since the introduction of its revised inspection programme in September 2003.

John Spellar: The information is as follows.
	
		Visits to homeless accommodation in the period September 2003 to May 2004
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Unannounced 45 
			 Announced 271 
			 Total 316

Homeless People (Accommodation)

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much the Northern Ireland Housing Executive spent on bed and breakfast accommodation in each financial year from 200001 to date.

John Spellar: The information is as follows:
	
		Expenditure on bed and breakfast
		
			   million 
		
		
			 200001 2.82 
			 200102 2.08 
			 200203 2.28 
			 200304 1.2

Homeless People (Accommodation)

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much the Northern Ireland Housing Executive has spent in each financial year from 200001 to date to subsidise bed and breakfast rents that exceeded the housing benefit limit.

John Spellar: The information is as follows.
	
		Top up payments by the NIHE for Bed and Breakfast placements
		
			   million 
		
		
			 200001 1.5 
			 200102 0.9 
			 200203 1.3 
			 200304 0.8

Homeless People (Accommodation)

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proportion of bed and breakfast units used by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive have rent charges that exceed the levels assessed as reasonable by the Valuation and Lands Agency.

John Spellar: All bed and breakfast accommodation have rent charges which exceed the level assessed for housing benefit purposes as indicated by the Valuation and Lands Agency.

Homeless People (Accommodation)

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in Northern Ireland are in bed and breakfast accommodation provided by the Housing Executive; how many are families with children; what the average time spent in bed and breakfast accommodation is for (a) families with children, (b) those without children and (c) all clients; what the target time set by the Housing Executive is for each group; and if he will make a statement.

John Spellar: At 24 June 2004 there were 117 households in bed and breakfast accommodation. Of these seven were family households with children.
	Average length of stay is:
	(a) for families with children20 days;
	(b) for those with out children135 days; and
	(c) for all clients128 days.
	The targets set are:
	to cease the use of bed and breakfast accommodation for families with children except in emergency and for no more than six weeks by April 2004. At the end of March 2004 the Housing Executive had no families in bed and breakfast accommodation for longer than six weeks;
	to cease the use of bed and breakfast accommodation for homeless households without children except in emergency and for no more than six weeks by March 2006;
	to reduce the expenditure on bed and breakfast establishments in 200405 by 50 per cent. compared to the 1.2 million spent in 200304; and
	to secure a reduction in expenditure in 200405 by 270,000 on bed and breakfast accommodation for families.
	It is the Housing Executive's intention that, ultimately, bed and breakfast will be used only in emergencies and never for families.

Homeless People (Accommodation)

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many placements of homeless people were made by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive during 200304 into (a) the Housing Executive Sector, (b) the voluntary sector, (c) private sector rented accommodation and (d) private sector single let accommodation.

John Spellar: During the 200304 year the Northern Ireland Housing Executive made a total of 3,934 homeless placements in the following sectors:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 (a) Housing Executive Sector 620 
			 (b) Voluntary Sector 1,708 
			 (c) Private Sector 1,092 
			 (including Bed and Breakfast and House in  Multiple Occupation)  
			 (d) Private Sector Single Let accommodation 514

Housing Executive (Private Shared Accommodation)

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his most recent estimate is of expenditure by the Housing Executive on private shared accommodation (a) in 200304 and (b) during the current financial year to date; and what his current estimate is of the likely out-turn for such expenditure for the entire financial year 200405.

John Spellar: Expenditure by the Housing Executive on Private Shared Accommodation is as follows:
	
		
			   million 
		
		
			 (a) For the 20032004 year 1.2 
			 (b) For the year to date (April 24-June 2004) 0.2 
		
	
	The likely outturn for the 200405 year is 0.6 million.

International Fund for Ireland

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the projects funded by the International Fund for Ireland for the Killyleagh area of Down district council; and what the total amount awarded per project has been.

Paul Murphy: I have asked the Chairman of the International Fund for Ireland to respond to the hon. Lady directly.

Invest Northern Ireland

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps are being taken by Invest Northern Ireland to simplify their procedures and application processes to encourage businesses to use their services.

Barry Gardiner: Invest NI has recently rationalised its product range, moving to a smaller number of broader, more flexible Business Support Solutions. The rationalisation exercise has reduced the number of programmes on offer from 184 to 86. In an effort to minimise any confusion among clients applying for support, Invest NI's new Business Solutions portfolio was communicated to the Northern Ireland business community during January and early February 2004.
	Invest NI has adopted a sectoral approach to its client portfolio, concentrating its knowledge of particular industrial and commercial areas in discrete client groups within the organisation. Clients of Invest NI are allocated a Client Executive to co-ordinate their interactions with various parts of the organisation.
	Every effort is made to clearly communicate the application process, offer practical advice and to process applications as promptly as possible. Invest NI is however responsible for the management of public funds and must therefore have in place rigorous and defensible appraisal procedures.

Literacy

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the projects which have been designed and implemented to raise literacy levels in Northern Ireland schools and post-16 institutions since 1996; what research has been conducted into the effectiveness of such projects; and when the next literacy levels research will be carried out.

Barry Gardiner: A wide ranging strategy to raise literacy standards has been in operation since 1996. The strategy includes:
	strengthened Education and Library Board structures to support schools;
	target setting at school level (including a requirement on schools to set their own targets), as well as at overall level;
	early intervention programmes for pupils struggling with reading;
	a major programme of training for key teachers; and
	the provision of summer literacy (and numeracy) schemes.
	The strategy has been regularly evaluated, and revised as appropriate, by the Literacy Strategy Steering Group; the Reading Recovery and Summer Schemes elements have also been evaluated externally. The need for future research will be assessed, taking account of developments in the curriculum such as the Enriched Curriculum.
	In 1996 Northern Ireland participated in the international Adult Literacy Survey (IALS). The survey, published in 1998, indicated that 24 per cent. of those aged between 16 and 65 in Northern Ireland performed at the lowest level of literacy, level 1. In October 2002, the Department for Employment and Learning launched the Essential Skills for Living Strategy and Action Plan in response to this survey.
	To date, the Department has supported 14,500 adult learners and aims to encourage a further 10,500 into learning during 200405. As the Essential Skills for Living Strategy and Action plan has been in place for less than two years, the Department has not yet conducted any research to determine the effectiveness of the Strategy. However an evaluation plan is being put in place; the next International survey of adult literacy is currently being planned for 2010.

Mr. Robert Jameson

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many police officers are involved in the investigation of the murder of Mr. Robert Jameson at Trillick, County Tyrone, on 17 January 1974.

Ian Pearson: The Police Service of Northern Ireland is presently conducting an assessment of the information available in respect of the murder of Mr. Jameson in order to identify any investigative opportunities. The actual number of officers deployed at any given time varies according to the most efficient use of resources within the Crime Operation Department.

Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the two areas chosen under the Department of Social Developments Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy that have developed their strategies will have to wait until the other nine areas are at the same level.

John Spellar: I intend to make an announcement shortly on the final selection of Neighbourhood Renewal areas. The selected areas will be supported in establishing Neighbourhood Partnership Boards and creating Neighbourhood Action Plans. As individual Action Plans are completed and approved, the Department for Social Development will release resources into the area to support the implementation of a range of social, economic, environmental and community capacity improvements. Partnerships that are able to use existing plans as starting points are likely to move to implementation more quickly.

Obesity

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to promote physical activity as a means of tackling obesity in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: It is widely recognised that the fundamental causes of obesity are physical inactivity and poor diet. The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety allocated 500,000 for the promotion of physical activity in 200405 and is also working with other Departments and key personnel to develop revised strategies and action plans on both physical activity and food and nutrition.
	A new Physical Activity Strategy and Action Plan will be issued for public consultation early in July and one on food and nutrition is expected to be ready by the end of the year. Following publication of the definitive strategies, structures will be put in place to take forward the agreed actions.
	A task force on obesity in children and young people is also being established under the auspices of the Ministerial Group on Public Health.
	The Sports Council for Northern Ireland, through its contribution to the Strategy for the Development of Sport, promotes physical activity as a valuable and demonstrable contributor to quality of life in terms of social, economic and health benefits. For example, the Youth Sport Programme promotes the development of physical activity in primary schools. The Community Sport Programme has been designed to increase physical activity among those in Northern Ireland's most deprived areas.

Police (Civilianised Posts)

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many police posts in Northern Ireland were civilianised in 200304.

Ian Pearson: Records held by the Police Service of Northern Ireland indicate that 112 police posts were civilianised during 200304.

Post Office Card Accounts

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many post office card accounts were receiving payments of State Pension and Pension Credit at Northern Ireland's Post Offices by the end of 2003.

John Spellar: At 28 December 2003 17,705 customers in receipt of Retirement Pension and State Pension Credit were receiving their benefit into Post Office card accounts.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps have been taken to ensure the implementation of the recommendations of the June 2003 Crest Guidelines on the Management of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Adults.

Angela Smith: The Crest Guidelines on the Management of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Adults were launched in June 2003 at a major conference attended by over 250 delegates. The guidelines have been endorsed by the four Health and Social Services Boards, which commission services, and are being used by statutory and voluntary sector service provides to inform service development. The therapies recommended in the guidelines are used in the Northern Ireland Centre for Trauma and Transformation in Omagh, and at the Family Trauma Centre, Belfast.

Renewable Energy

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of the total energy supply he estimates will be supplied to Northern Ireland consumers from renewable energy sources by the end of 2004.

Barry Gardiner: Statistics relating to the contribution of renewables to total energy supply are not currently available for Northern Ireland.
	It is estimated that, subject to climatic conditions, approximately 300 GWh (3 per cent. of total electricity supplied to Northern Ireland consumers) will be generated from indigenous renewable sources during 2004. An additional lOOGWh (1 per cent. of total electricity supplied to Northern Ireland consumers) will be imported from outside Northern Ireland.

Road Accidents

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) fatalities, (b) serious injuries and (c) other collisions there have been on the (i) A2 Bangor to Belfast Road and (ii) Bangor Ring Road, County Down in each of the last 10 years.

Ian Pearson: The Chief Constable has provided the information in the following tables which covers the period from 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2004. Figures prior to this period are not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	
		(i) A2 Belfast to Bangor Road (between the junction of Knocknagoney Road and Abbey Street/Brunswick Road junction, Bangor)
		
			  Total number of injury collisions Number of fatalities Serious injuries Slight injuries 
		
		
			 200102 37 0 11 61 
			 200203 38 4 18 70 
			 200304 34 2 27 41 
		
	
	
		(ii) Bangor Ring Road, County Down
		
			  Total number of injury collisions Number of fatalities Serious injuries Slight injuries 
		
		
			 200102 29 0 3 41 
			 200203 35 0 3 45 
			 200304 33 0 2 58

Sickness Absence

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many days were lost in each department, agency and non-departmental public body in Northern Ireland through staff sickness in each financial year since 1 April 1997; what the average annual number of days lost per employee was as a result of sickness in those years; and what the cost was of such time lost.

Ian Pearson: I have placed tables containing the statistical information covering the 11 Departments of the Northern Ireland Administration and its Agencies in the Library. The information which relates to the Northern Ireland Office (excluding NI Prison Service' and Home Civil Service) has only been held centrally since 200001.
	The NI Prison Service has produced its own statistics but costing details are not available. NIO (Home Civil Service) information is produced in calendar years and again information on costing is not available.
	The statistics, where available, relate to financial years 19992000, 200001, 200102 and 200203. Statistical data prior to 19992000 is not available centrally, nor is the information relating to non-departmental public bodies. Such information could be obtained only at disproportionate costs.
	The 'Working days lost per staff year' approach is based on Cabinet Office recommendation and replaces working days lost per person. It is recognised that the latter does not always permit valid comparisons to be made between or within organisations which have a high proportion of part-time staff and/or high levels of staff turnover. Costing information has been compiled centrally since 200001 and is based on salary costs.

Sperrin Lakeland Trust

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was spent by the Sperrin Lakeland Trust on (a) nursing and related staffing, (b) goods and services and (c) building works in Omagh and Erne in the last year for which figures are available.

Angela Smith: The information requested was supplied by the Sperrin Lakeland Trust for 200203 and is detailed in the following table:
	
		000
		
			  Erne Hospital Enniskillen Tyrone County Hospital Omagh 
		
		
			 Nursing costs 8,664 6,540 
			 Goods and services 5,285 3,989 
			 Building works (capital) 59 98

Travel Costs (Officials)

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost of air travel between Northern Ireland and Great Britain was for officials of the Northern Ireland Civil Service for 200304; and what processes are employed to ensure that all suppliers are given equal opportunity to offer cost effective travel arrangements.

Ian Pearson: The cost of air travel between Northern Ireland and Great Britain for officials of the Northern Ireland Civil Service for 200304 was 2,805,004.12.
	These figures relate only to flights booked through the NICS contracted travel agency service and do not include any journeys undertaken which were booked through any other channels as to obtain this information would be at disproportionate cost to Departments.
	The Central Procurement Directorate (CPD) establishes a contract for a comprehensive travel agency service, which is competed for on a regular basis thus affording all suppliers a regular opportunity to bid for provision of this service. This service includes identifying the best value fare structure to meet the specified business needs of the officials undertaking the journey.

Union Flag (Police Stations)

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on what date a decision was taken to remove the Union Flag from all Northern Ireland police stations; on whose authority this decision was taken; who issued the instruction to remove the Union Flag; and what the wording of the instruction was.

Ian Pearson: The answer to this question is enshrined in the Police Flags and Emblems Regulations (NI) 2002, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.

Victims Commissioner

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland who the Victims' Commissioner for Northern Ireland is; what his remit is; and if he will make a statement.

John Spellar: There is no Victims Commissioner for Northern Ireland. The idea of a Victims Commissioner was first put forward as a recommendation by Sir Kenneth Bloomfield in his report, We Will Remember Them, which looked at possible ways of recognising the pain and suffering of victims of the Troubles. Since its publication in 1998 Government have implemented the majority of his recommendations. However, the appointment of a Victims Commissioner was not pursued. A Victims Minister was appointed and since then over 20 million has been allocated to victims initiatives. The role of Victims Commissioner as envisaged in the report was primarily that of a watchdog over the services and advice available to victims. The Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister are taking much of this work forward in their cross-departmental strategy; the consultation exercise they carried out indicated no clear view on the establishment of such a post. Government are currently reviewing their strategy for addressing the needs of victims of the Troubles, including how we deal with the past. This review will inform the development of the next phase of victims policy. We cannot pre-empt the outcome of the review.
	The Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill will make statutory provision for a Victims Commissioner in England and Wales who will champion the interests of victims and witnesses of all offences. The provisions have not been extended to Northern Ireland as the Criminal Justice Review made specific recommendations regarding victims and witnesses. The Review recommended that a group comprising of both statutory and voluntary bodies should be set up to maintain a specific focus on victims issues. The Victims, Vulnerable or Intimidated Witnesses Steering Group, representative of criminal justice agencies and Victim Support (NI), fulfils this role. The Review also recommended that the possibility of an advocate should be considered again in the future if new arrangements on behalf of victims are seen not to be working.

Winter Fuel Payments

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) East Londonderry he estimates will be eligible for winter fuel payments in 2004.

John Spellar: In the 200304 year winter fuel payments were made to 275,624 Social Security Agency customers. It is estimated that the figure for 200405 will be of similar numbers. A further breakdown by constituency is not available.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum Intake Reduction Sub-committee

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether Mr. Ken Sutton is a member of the Asylum Intake Reduction Sub-committee; and if he will make a statement.

Des Browne: holding answer 7 June 2004
	The Asylum Intake Reduction/ Secure Borders sub-programme board was established in February 2003 under the chairmanship of the Senior Director, Operations of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. Initially it was intended that Ken Sutton should be included as a second Senior Director member, given his responsibility for Asylum Support, Casework and Appeals. However by April 2003 it was decided that, as Mr. Sutton already chaired or co-chaired two of the other sub-programme boards, he should not continue to be a member. Mr. Sutton has never attended any meetings of the board.

Asylum/Immigration

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what qualifications immigration officers assessing initial asylum applications have; and what training is provided to assessing officers.

Des Browne: Immigration officers operating the primary arrivals control at seaports and airports do not assess asylum applications. In line with the 1951 Convention, their role as Border Guards, is to gather basic information from applicants relating to identity, nationality, immigration history, route into the UK and timing of the asylum claim.
	Initial decisions on asylum applications are made by asylum caseworkers at the Executive Officer grade and Higher Executive Officers in Fast Track Cases. All caseworkers receive six weeks training (four weeks classroom based training and two weeks formal coaching) covering all aspects of asylum casework including interviewing and how to deal with human rights allegations.
	Asylum training is currently under review and it is intended to involve UNHCR in future training provisions.
	All asylum caseworkers receive refresher training to consolidate their initial training programme. This includes a rolling programme of workshops run by the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, the aim of which is to equip caseworkers better to interview asylum applicants who have been victims of torture.
	Other additional training is provided as and when required, such as in respect of changes in legislation or procedures or in response to weaknesses identified by quality assurance work. For example, all asylum caseworkers have recently been invited to attend a refresher course to better equip them to deal with human rights allegations raised alongside asylum claims.
	In addition, representatives from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) also undertake presentations to provide information about their work and to discuss the procedures and criteria for determining refugee status with asylum caseworkers.

Bribery/Corruption

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  on what date each of the two investigations being undertaken by the Metropolitan Police into allegations of foreign bribery began; and what stage these investigations have reached;
	(2)  what resources are available for enforcement of Part 12 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001; and what plans he has to make changes to the amount available.

Paul Goggins: No specific resources have been allocated for the enforcement of Part 12 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security (ATCS) Act 2001.
	However, we have put significant extra resources into the police service in England and Wales over the last few years. Since 200001 total provision for policing has risen by over 30 per cent.
	Allocation of resources within any given force area is a matter for the Chief Constable. Implementation of Part 12 of the ATCS Act forms part of the National Policing Plan and each Police Authority and Chief Constable will take the National Policing Plan into account when drawing up their Local Policing Plans. There are currently no plans to allocate additional funding.
	Concerning the two cases currently under investigation by the Metropolitan Police which you referred to in PQ 158308: the investigations were commenced in January 2003 and are ongoing.

Child Offenders

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children were sent to (a) prison and (b) young offender institutions in each of the last five years; how many children were (i) in prison and (ii) young offender institutions on the latest date for which figures are available; what representations he has received about children in prisons and young offender institutions; what his response has been; what plans he has to (A) reduce the number of children in prison and young offender institutions overall and (B) implement a policy where no children are held in prisons and young offender institutions; what arrangements he is considering to improve their (1) safety and well-being and (2) education of such children; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: Children who are sent from court to Prison Service accommodation aresave in exceptional circumstances and on a case-by-case basisplaced within the Service's juvenile estate, as commissioned and purchased by the Youth Justice Board. Children who have been remanded in custody are received under the Prison Rules 1999, while sentenced children are received under the Young Offender Institution Rules 2000.
	In 2003, there were 4,918 children under sentence in Prison Service establishments in England and Wales. Figures for the preceding four years can be found in table 3.10 of the publication 'Prison Statistics England and Wales', a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library (total receptions cannot be calculated by adding together receptions in each category because there is double counting).
	On 30 November 2003, 485 remanded children and 1,769 sentenced children were held in Prison Service accommodation. The Home Secretary receives a variety of representations from a range of bodies and individuals on children in prison service accommodation. The Youth Justice Board has had responsibility, since April 2000, for commissioning and purchasing all secure accommodation for juveniles (those under 18) sentenced to custody, including Prison Service accommodation.
	The Board takes the view that custodial provision has an important place in the criminal justice system for young people, but believes that with the provision of robust and highly intensive new community sentencing alternatives, such as the Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme (ISSP), it is possible and desirable to reduce the use of custody and ensure that it is used only for those who clearly need it. The Board aims to reduce custody for children by 10 per cent. over the next three years. Custody for under 18s did fall by 11 per cent. between October 2002 and October 2003 and although there has been a recent increase, the Board does anticipate further reductions over time.
	The Youth Justice Board has no plans to discontinue the purchasing and commissioning of prison service accommodation. However, the Board has fulfilled the commitment made by the then Home Secretary in March 1999, to remove all girls aged under 17 from Prison Service accommodation.
	The Youth Justice Board and Prison Service are committed to improving the child protection and safeguards arrangements within the Prison Service juvenile estate. A comprehensive review of the arrangements in across the estate was undertaken during 2003 and a report launched in November. Its recommendations are currently under consideration. Every establishment has appointed a Child Protection Co-ordinator and has set up a Child Protection Committee with representation from the local Area Child Protection Committee, police and other relevant agencies. Anti-bullying strategies, and suicide and self-harm prevention policies have been put in place in all establishments in the estate.
	The Youth Justice Board's National Specification for Learning and Skills, introduced to the Prison Service juvenile estate in early 2002, focuses on improving numeracy and literacy; ensuring continuity of mainstream educational placements; reintegration into full-time education, training or employment; increasing employability through practical and vocational activities; and learning how to learn. Establishments provide a range of activities, including learning and skills, vocational training, work, physical education, enrichment activities, access to the library and offending behaviour programmes.

Correspondence

Keith Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter of 10 February 2004, from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Withington, on behalf of his constituent Wendy Steele.

Des Browne: holding answer 28 June 2004
	The Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, the hon. Member for Slough (Fiona Mactaggart) replied to my right hon. Friend on 1 July 2004.

Crime/Policing (Lancashire)

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many hours on average police spent on patrol in the streets in Lancashire in the last year for which figures are available.

Hazel Blears: The information sought by my hon. Friend is not collected centrally.

Crime/Policing (Lancashire)

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the effect of Crime and Disorder Partnerships in Chorley.

Hazel Blears: The Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) in Chorley is an effective partnership bringing together some 40 partner agencies with contributions from across the local authority (Chorley borough council, CBC), the Police, Fire Service and Youth Offending Teams (YOT). Partnership meetings are attended by as many as 2530 people. The CDRP is developing a closer working relationship with the Lancashire Drug Action Team.
	The partnership is assessed as working well by the Government Office in the North West (GONW). It has had a significant impact on crime and disorder over the last two years, with substantial reductions recorded in domestic burglary and theft of and from vehicles. There have been increases in violent crime, youth nuisance and criminal damage although changes in police recording of violent crime and criminal damage have affected the levels reported.
	The council has reviewed its youth policy and appointed an antisocial behaviour co-ordinator who has developed a strategy to tackle ASB and set up an action group drawing on a range of agencies including CBC Housing, Housing Associations, Lancashire Constabulary, Y.O.T. and Lancashire Fire and Rescue. Any agency can bring a problem to the monthly meeting and all agencies have input on how best to deal with the problem.
	Some good practice and recent initiatives by the CDRP include
	the introduction of alley gates, which have been well received within the community and led to a number of enquiries about the expansion of the scheme,
	the deployment of six Neighbourhood Wardens since 2003,
	the appointment of an Anti-Social Behaviour Co-ordinator in June 2003,
	a Railway Watch scheme,
	and CCTV systems, which have recently, been refurbished and upgraded from analogue to digital.
	The CDRP underwent a self-assessment between January and March 2004 and has produced a Partnership Improvement Plan which will be used by the GONW to assist them in supporting the development of the partnership. The partnership is now engaged in the next round of triennial audits of crime and disorder and misuse of drugs.

Curfews

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many curfews have been issued in respect of (a) up to 11-year-olds and (b) up to 15-year-olds since their inception.

Paul Goggins: The available information relates to the number of juveniles aged 10 to 15 years who have received a curfew order at court, in England and Wales from 1998 to 2002, and is contained in the table.
	
		Juveniles sentenced to curfew orders at all courts in England and Wales, 1998 to 2002, by age group
		
			  Aged 10 to 11 years Aged 12 to 15 years 
		
		
			 1998  45 
			 1999 1 100 
			 2000 1 52 
			 2001 7 568 
			 2002 13 1,077 
		
	
	Statistics on court proceedings for 2003 will be published in the autumn.

Custodial Sentences

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) women and (b) juveniles were given a custodial sentence by courts in Wales in each month since January 2003.

Paul Goggins: Statistics on court proceedings for 2003 will be published in the autumn.

Domestic Violence

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children have been killed by a parent within the context of domestic violence in each of the last five years for which statistics are available; and what the gender of the (a) child and (b) parent was in each case.

Paul Goggins: The latest available information on homicide is published in Home Office Statistical Bulletin number 01/04, Crime in England and Wales 2002/2003: Supplementary Volume 1: Homicide and Gun Crime. It provides information on the gender of victims and the relationship of victim to suspect. The Bulletin does not specify either the gender of suspects causing the death of their own children or whether the homicide was within the context of domestic violence.
	In England and Wales, the numbers of homicide victims under 16 years killed by their parents are given in the table.
	
		
			  Son Daughter 
		
		
			 199899 32 25 
			 19992000 29 19 
			 200001 46 34 
			 200102 30 11 
			 200203 29 26 
		
	
	Note:
	Figures are as at 13 November 2003 and are subject to revision as cases are dealt with by the police, by the courts or as further information becomes available.

Domestic Violence

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions the Inter-Ministerial Group on Domestic Violence has met during the past year.

Paul Goggins: The Inter-Ministerial Group on Domestic Violence meets quarterly. Over the last 12 months it has met in October 2003, January 2004 and April 2004. It will next meet in July.

Entry Clearance

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 13 May 2004, Official Report, column 568W, on entry clearance standards, on what date each reporting mechanism was established; how many individuals have contacted the (a) hotline and (b) website to date; and how many contacts have resulted in action being taken.

Des Browne: The telephone hotline was set up on 30 March 2004 and the e-mail address box on 25 March 2004. There have been eight callers to the telephone hotline since it was set up.
	Since the website was established, 31 responses have been received by members of staff. A wide range of staffing and management issues have been raised, all of which have been responded to and taken forward as appropriate.
	All those who have made contact through either facility receive a response, unless they wish to remain anonymous.

EU Accession Countries

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will estimate the change in numbers of citizens from EU accession countries travelling to the UK since the expansion of the European Union.

Richard Caborn: I have been asked to reply.
	Data on the number of visits to the UK from overseas residents, by country of residence, are available from the International Passenger Survey. A special monthly analysis of the number of visits from residents of the EU accession countries is being produced and is available at the following web address: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=12222More=n
	So far data have been released up to April. Data for May, the first since the expansion of the European Union, will be released on Wednesday 7 July.

EU Accession Countries

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions have been brought against persons from the new EU member states who drive without (a) a licence, (b) insurance and (c) due care and attention.

Caroline Flint: Information is not collected centrally on the nationality of drivers prosecuted for motoring offences.

EU Judicial Agenda

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken to advance the judicial agenda of the EU.

Paul Goggins: The Government have actively supported the current EU judicial co-operation agenda, as set out in the Conclusions of the 1999 European Council held in Tampere, Finland, and in the subsequent Justice and Home Affairs work programme (19992004). On the basis of a UK initiative these Conclusions established the principle of mutual recognition of member states judicial decisions as the basis for judicial co-operation in the EU.
	The UK has since been a strong supporter of key mutual recognition instruments, such as the Framework Decision on the European Arrest Warrant and surrender procedures between member states, and the Framework Decision on the execution in the European Union of orders freezing property or evidence. These measures, and more like them, will help to ensure that criminals cannot evade justice in another member state, but without compromising the different legal traditions of member states.
	The 20052010 Justice and Home Affairs work programme is currently being negotiated. The Government aim to ensure that the principle of mutual recognition remains the cornerstone of judicial co-operation within the EU.

Fear of Crime (Crosby)

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment has been made of fear of crime among the people of Crosby.

Hazel Blears: Sefton's Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership interviews their Citizen's Panel yearly on a variety of crime and fear of crime issues. The last interviews were carried out in January 2004, and although the assessment of fear of crime is available the CDRP would need notice to analyse the information down to ward level, but would incur disproportionate costs.

Fraud

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to introduce an offence of fraud by false representation as recommended in the Law Commission's report on fraud; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: The Government published a Consultation Paper dealing with this and other proposals to reform the law of fraud on 17 May. I have asked for a copy to be sent to my hon. Friend. Comments are invited by 9 August.

Juror Impropriety

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the consultation paper on jury research and investigations into juror impropriety has been published.

Christopher Leslie: I have been asked to reply.
	The consultation paper has not yet been published.

Juveniles

Rudi Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of (a) self-injury and (b) attempted suicide have occurred in each of the segregation units in juvenile prisons in the last five years.

Paul Goggins: Suicidal intent is difficult to establish. Data recording incidents of 'attempted suicide' are subsumed within those for self-harm, which cover all acts of self-injury however serious.
	A new form for reporting self-harm was introduced across the prisons estate in December 2002. This has improved the consistency with which self-harm incidents are reported and, by broadening the range of questions that are asked, improved the detail and quality of the information collected. Prior to 2003, data on the location where the self-harm incident occurred were not collated centrally. The following table provides the information requested with respect to 2003 only.
	
		
			  Establishment 1 Number of self-harm incidents involving juveniles in segregation 
		
		
			 Ashfield 48 
			 Brinsford 1 
			 Bullwood Hall 7 
			 Holloway 4 
			 Huntercombe 4 
			 New Hall 34 
			 Onley 8 
			 Parc 2 
			 Stoke Heath 7 
			 Wetherby 2 
			 Total 117 
		
	
	(16) The table provides detail of all establishments holding juveniles in 2003 that recorded incidents of juvenile self-harm in segregation.
	Note:
	The table records number of incidents, not number of individuals. Establishments showing particularly high numbers reflect individual cases of repetitive self-harm.
	A number of intervention strategies have been introduced into prisons, young offender and juvenile establishments for people who self-harm. These include counselling, support groups, and specialised psychological interventions. While evaluation of these interventions is, at present, very limited, evidence from research in non-prison settings suggests that male and female adolescents who self-harm repeatedly may benefit from group therapy. A network of establishments has been set up to develop interventions, facilitate evaluation and share good practice. Guidance to staff on managing people who self-harm has also been circulated to establishments.

Juveniles

Rudi Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the juvenile girls in Bullwood Hall prison have been adjudicated on more than once.

Paul Goggins: Taking 2002 as the starting point the information is as follows.
	
		
			  Number of juvenile girls 
		
		
			 2002 92 
			 2003 48 
			 2004 (As at 1 April) 6

Licensed Premises Closures

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many licensed premises were closed down by (a) police and (b) local authorities in each of the past 10 years.

Hazel Blears: Statistics relating to liquor licensing are published every three years based on returns submitted by Clerks to Justices in England and Wales. The most recent information covers the 12-month period to June 2001.
	In the twelve months ending 30 June 2001 a total of 183 licenses were revoked by licensing justices: 132 on-licenses and 51 off-licenses. A full breakdown of licenses revoked by licensing justices is provided in the following table for the period 1992 to 2001.
	
		Licences revoked, 19922001
		
			 Year to 30 June On-licensed premises Off-licensed premises Total on and off licensed premises 
		
		
			 1992 216 46 262 
			 1995 262 116 378 
			 1998 215 102 317 
			 2001 132 51 183 
		
	
	Source:
	Home Office Statistical Bulletin 02/02. Liquor Licensing: England and Wales, July 2000 to June 2001.
	Responsibility for granting and revoking liquor licenses currently rests with licensing justices though this will be transferred to licensing authorities (district or county councils or London boroughs) under the new Licensing Act 2003, when fully implemented in 2005. The police can make representations to licensing justices including applications to revoke existing licenses. The new Licensing Act 2003 requires licensing authorities to consult chief police officers and to consider the crime and disorder implications, nuisance and public safety when carrying out their functions.
	The police also have powers under the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 to close disorderly licensed premises without notice for periods of up to 24-hours. The Home Office does not collate statistical information relating t the use of these powers.

Mobile Telephones

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he plans to extend the offence of using a mobile telephone while driving a motor vehicle to individuals using mobile telephones whilst cycling.

David Jamieson: I have been asked to reply.
	The police have powers under sections 28 and 29 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, as amended, to deal with cyclists they consider to be riding dangerously, or carelessly or inconsiderately.

Motorway Patrols

Diana Organ: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will run pilot studies to compare accident and speed statistics on motorways with different levels of visible police patrolling.

Caroline Flint: A wide range of research on what impacts on driver behaviour and road safety is already undertaken on behalf of the Department for Transport. Studies of the sort proposed would not be viable because of the lack of an agreed and satisfactory definition and measure of visible police patrolling. We have, however, recently set a statutory performance indicator for the police which relates the numbers killed and seriously injured to the number of vehicle kilometres travelled. The level and nature of police enforcement activity will influence this.

Motorway Patrols

Diana Organ: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the role of police traffic officers in patrolling motorways.

Caroline Flint: The police are responsible for law enforcement and the investigation of accidents. Their presence also provides reassurance and acts as a deterrent to bad driving. They will work closely with the traffic officers being appointed by the Highways Agency to identify and deal with the safety, road clearance and traffic management aspects of accidents and other major motorway incidents.

National Offender Management Service

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on processes followed in making senior appointments to the National Offender Management Service.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 10 June 2004
	The National Offender Manager, the Director of Finance and the Director of Policy have all been appointed following open competition. The 10 Regional Offender Manager posts have been advertised and interviews are to be held in July. Advertisements for the positions were placed in the national press to ensure the widest possible interest.
	A job specific selection board was not convened for the appointments of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) Director of Human Resources or Director of Standards and Innovation. For HR, it is important to provide early support to the NOMS Chief Executive. The current Prison Service HR Director is leading the HR workstreams associated with the establishment of NOMS alongside his other duties. As the development of NOMS progresses, this situation will be kept under review.
	The post of Director of Strategy and Innovations has been filled by a Home Office senior civil servant with the appropriate competences and experience to do the job. He was transferred to this position in accordance with established Home Office procedures.
	All of the posts have been filled in accordance with procedures approved by the Civil Service Commissioners.

National Offender Management Service

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Director General of the Prison Service will be responsible for setting charges for prisoner places for which he has responsibility under the new structure for the National Offender Management Service.

Paul Goggins: The pricing and charging mechanism for prisoner places is currently being considered as part of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) Change Programme. Any mechanism will be agreed by the Chief Executive of NOMS and approved by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary.

National Offender Management Service

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which areas have been selected to run regional pathfinders in order to test the proposed changes under the new National Offender Management Service; what the regional pathfinders are intended to test; and when they are due to start.

Paul Goggins: Discussions with the north west region to establish a pathfinder focused on offender management are well advanced, though it is too early yet to set a start date. There are discussions under way with two other regions, but final decisions about the number, focus and location of other pathfinders have yet to be taken.

National Rehabilitation Action Plan

Keith Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will publish the National Rehabilitation Action Plan.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 7 June 2004
	We hope to publish this soon.

Neighbourhood Watch

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department was informed by the National Neighbourhood Watch Association in 2002 of improper use of the Neighbourhood Watch logo on commercial literature by other companies.

Hazel Blears: The Home Office receives reports about misuse of the Neighbourhood Watch logos from various sources and appropriate action is taken. Records show that the National Neighbourhood Watch Association appear to have been involved in identifying instances of misuse by a local builder and a roofing contractor in the West Midlands during 2002. Officials provided witness statements that the logos were Crown Copyright and local Trading Standard Officers prosecuted the case.

Neighbourhood Watch

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the National Neighbourhood Watch Association followed all due processes in its registration of the Neighbourhood Watch logos; whether it used experienced trade mark patent agents in the registration process; and whether the intention to register was advertised in the appropriate journals.

Hazel Blears: This is a matter for the National Neighbourhood Watch Association rather than for the Home Office.
	The criticism my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, has made of the Association in relation to the registration of the logos is not that it failed to advertise appropriately, but that it failed to inform or consult us about this, even though it was aware that the logos were Crown Copyright. Neither did the Association consult police forces or local and regional Neighbourhood Watch.

Police

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the level of crime is in (a) Leyton and Wanstead, (b) the London borough of Redbridge and (c) the London borough of Waltham Forest; what the figures were seven years ago; and what further initiatives are being undertaken to reduce crime.

Hazel Blears: Information is not available centrally for Leyton and Wanstead. The available information relates to the Redbridge and Waltham Forest Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs). The table, which will be placed in the Library, covers the six main offences and relates to 200203. Information for seven years earlier is not available for CDRPs.

Police

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will ask Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary to rate police performance by basic command unit area.

Hazel Blears: In April 2001 we agreed a five-year cycle of inspection with Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC). To date they have inspected almost 60 per cent. of the country's 270 Basic Command Units (BCU). There are no plans at present to rate the inspections findings. HMIC have had input into the development of the Policing performance assessment frameworks and work with the police standards unit to monitor BCU performance on a regular basis.

Police

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers the Greater Manchester Police Force (a) had in 1997 and (b) have now; what the percentage change was in each year; and in which of the last 30 years the force had the highest number of officers.

Hazel Blears: Between March 1997 and December 2003 Greater Manchester Police strength has increased by 848, or 12.25 per cent. This is better than the increase for England and Wales of 8.6 per cent. for the same period. The table sets out the information requested.
	The latest published police strength is for 31 December 2003 and for Greater Manchester Police that was the highest ever published strength the force has had.
	
		
			 As at 31 March Police officer strength 1 Percentage change 
		
		
			 1997 6,922  
			 1998 6,949 +0.39 
			 1999 6,810 -2.0 
			 2000 6,795 -0.22 
			 2001 6,909 +1.68 
			 2002 7,217 +4.46 
			 2003 7,343 +1.75 
			 December 2003 7,770 +5.82 
		
	
	(17) Source for 1997 to March 2003 is the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate (RDS). December 2003 was collected separately outside of the normal data collection arrangements and has not been subject to the same validation as RDS data.

Police

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many new police recruits there were in each year since 1997, broken down by constabulary; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: The available information is given in the table.
	
		Police officer recruitmentyear ending 31 March
		
			 Constabulary 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 (18)2003 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 174 138 142 104 184 274 264 
			 Bedfordshire 34 49 36 37 82 131 136 
			 Cambridgeshire 108 65 46 23 134 134 139 
			 Cheshire 105 94 112 36 108 158 198 
			 Cleveland 102 71 0 68 71 105 143 
			 Cumbria 100 79 34 23 31 84 108 
			 Derbyshire 85 66 52 79 103 112 283 
			 Devon and Cornwall 94 179 57 74 172 181 335 
			 Dorset 88 129 44 87 100 99 111 
			 Durham 116 123 106 51 83 86 131 
			 Essex 196 124 96 93 181 233 296 
			 Gloucestershire 67 34 64 59 89 78 139 
			 Greater Manchester 355 437 217 286 389 583 546 
			 Hampshire 359 201 117 152 192 211 444 
			 Hertfordshire 148 78 79 167 110 183 320 
			 Humberside 94 88 48 91 98 237 152 
			 Kent 295 119 120 174 269 286 370 
			 Lancashire 221 135 55 99 164 203 224 
			 Leicestershire 136 118 88 67 108 150 181 
			 Lincolnshire 121 61 6 34 119 61 103 
			 London, City of 35 34 18 0- 29 71 116 
			 Merseyside 57 181 234 41 178 201 174 
			 Metropolitan Police(18) 693 1,200 1,629 994 1,276 2,554 3,489 
			 Norfolk 131 84 28 43 90 99 128 
			 Northamptonshire 73 ' 57 29 19 93 96 68 
			 Northumbria 205 275 233 121 226 223 266 
			 North Yorkshire 66 65 17 10 66 99 97 
			 Nottinghamshire 101 111 22 104 134 226 218 
			 South Yorkshire 323 145 130 128 183 181 172 
			 Staffordshire 117 239 31 22 62 125 245 
			 Suffolk 116 76 57 17 65 137 133 
			 Surrey 61 116 138 183 240 225 187 
			 Sussex 170 135 109 101 206 226 357 
			 Thames Valley 212 276 153 190 237 321 458 
			 Warwickshire 2 67 50 59 85 72 91 
			 West Mercia 125 79 109 15 92 147 405 
			 West Midlands 393 444 466 255 553 676 792 
			 West Yorkshire 284 203 17 61 212 371 434 
			 Wiltshire 30 71 49 29 75 107 96 
			 Dyfed-Powys 48 42 50 54 58 87 87 
			 Gwent 82 39 61 82 63 107 89 
			 North Wales 49 48 59 79 119 90 133 
			 South Wales 152 168 183 124 286 185 269 
			 Total all forces 6,523 6,543 5,391 4,535 7,415 10,215 13,126 
		
	
	(18) Not comparable to previous recruitment figures as data includes transfers from other England and Wales forces and officers returning after a period of secondment.

Police

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers left the police force in each year since 1997, broken down by constabulary; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: The available information is given in the table.
	
		Police officer wastage
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 1 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 160 148 104 146 160 156 205 
			 Bedfordshire 53 67 63 58 72 50 92 
			 Cambridgeshire 61 68 66 54 70 79 107 
			 Cheshire 71 102 72 90 85 90 113 
			 Cleveland 56 41 78 59 81 77 59 
			 Cumbria 79 56 60 66 69 41 59 
			 Derbyshire 72 93 59 47 84 63 110 
			 Devon and Cornwall 129 129 111 134 130 128 153 
			 Dorset 66 108 64 75 69 94 68 
			 Durham 59 79 42 58 53 65 73 
			 Essex 114 157 122 169 141 147 214 
			 Gloucestershire 67 65 60 53 47 63 83 
			 Greater Manchester 378 380 346 296 304 274 374 
			 Hampshire 142 157 137 190 186 170 224 
			 Hertfordshire 90 95 91 115 117 113 186 
			 Humberside 92 112 94 95 135 83 104 
			 Kent 119 139 149 156 156 220 215 
			 Lancashire 84 135 99 111 139 177 61 
			 Leicestershire 94 93 94 69 72 92 127 
			 Lincolnshire 64 74 61 67 60 65 73 
			 London, City of(19) 43 73 58 50 55 53 59 
			 Merseyside 241 178 136 145 157 191 195 
			 Metropolitan Police(19) 1,351 1,561 1,725 1,477 1,098 1,262 1,727 
			 Norfolk 101 88 64 57 62 74 92 
			 Northamptonshire 42 57 60 38 54 42 56 
			 Northumbria 181 204 160 151 136 161 164 
			 North Yorkshire 58 52 44 66 62 68 57 
			 Nottinghamshire 90 113 110 92 96 138 114 
			 South Yorkshire 96 124 144 137 138 171 170 
			 Staffordshire 111 161 96 81 75 105 129 
			 Suffolk 71 64 54 56 76 60 85 
			 Surrey 82 119 82 80 92 105 246 
			 Sussex 186 181 201 185 186 186 242 
			 Thames Valley 182 188 136 189 172 169 368 
			 Warwickshire 38 66 55 38 54 47 58 
			 West Mercia 100 99 100 102 156 117 124 
			 West Midlands 353 446 341 327 319 494 523 
			 West Yorkshire 206 232 198 209 223 324 254 
			 Wiltshire 83 63 55 66 65 60 82 
			 Dyfed-Powys 31 32 25 39 49 44 63 
			 Gwent 56 50 50 68 58 99 61 
			 North Wales 63 55 72 56 75 62 65 
			 South Wales 136 153 166 131 161 141 153 
			 Total all forces 5,951 6,657 6,104 5,948 5,849 6,420 7,783 
		
	
	(19) Not comparable to previous wastage figures as data do not include transfers to other England and Wales forces and officers leaving after a period of secondment.

Police

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he has issued to police authorities and chief constables regarding the type of uniform to be worn in the presence of royalty.

Hazel Blears: The Home Secretary has not issued guidance on the type of uniform to be worn in the presence of Royalty. The wearing of police uniforms is an operational matter, and is a decision for Chief Officers.

Prisons

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisons have burial grounds; and when each was last used.

Paul Goggins: The following table details prison burial grounds and when each was last used.
	
		
			 Prison Date of Internment 
		
		
			 Bedford 14 April 1969 
			 Birmingham 12 November 1962 
			 Cardiff 3 September 1952 
			 Chelmsford 4 November 1914 
			 Carlisle(20) 8 February 1886 
			 Carmarthen(20) 29 November 1894 
			 Cambridge(20) 4 November 1913 
			 Derby(20) 27 December 1906 
			 Dorchester(20) 24 June 1941 
			 Durham 17 December 1958 
			 Exeter 6 April 1943 
			 Feltham 3 August 1945 
			 Gloucester 7 August 1962 
			 Holloway 13 July 1955 
			 Hull 19 December 1934 
			 Hereford(20) 1903 
			 Ipswich(20) 27 November 1924 
			 Knutsford(20) 19 March 1912 
			 Leeds 29 June 1961 
			 Leicester 17 November 1953 
			 Lincoln 27 January 1961 
			 Liverpool 13 August 1964 
			 Lewes 11 August 1914 
			 Maidstone 8 April 1930 
			 Manchester 13 August 1964 
			 Newcastle(20) 16 November 1919 
			 Norwich 19 July 1951 
			 Northampton(20) 10 November 1914 
			 Nottingham 8 April 1929 
			 Oxford(20) 12 August 1952 
			 Pentonville 6 July 1961 
			 Ruthin(20) 17 February 1903 
			 Reading 24 November 1910 
			 St. Albans(20) 23 December 1914 
			 Shepton Mallet 2 March 1926 
			 Shrewsbury 9 February 1961 
			 Stafford 10 March 1941 
			 Swansea 6 May 1958 
			 Usk 23 March 1922 
			 Wandsworth 8 September 1961 
			 Wakefield 19 December 1915 
			 Winchester 6 November 1963 
			 Worcester(20) 3 December 1919 
			 Warwick(20) 15 December 1908 
		
	
	(20) Establishment no longer in existence.

Prisons

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners died while in prison in each of the last five years; and what the prisoner's age was in each case.

Paul Goggins: The information requested is provided in the following table:
	
		Number of deaths in prisons in England and Wales, 19992003
		
			 Prisoner's age at time of death 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Total 
		
		
			 16   3 1  4 
			 17 2 3  1  6 
			 18 2 3 2 1 2 10 
			 19 7 4 5 5 4 25 
			 20 4 7 3 7 6 27 
			 21 4 3 2 3 3 15 
			 22 3 4 *2 1 2 12 
			 23 3 5 5 2 *8 23 
			 24 5 1 5 6 6 23 
			 25 4 *4  6 3 17 
			 26 8 4 2 1 4 19 
			 27 5 3 5 3 2 18 
			 28 5 5 1 6 4 21 
			 29 4 1 6 6 6 23 
			 30 7 6 5 4 7 29 
			 31 7 6 **5 5 6 29 
			 32 3 3 1 6 7 20 
			 33 4 2 2 6 3 17 
			 34 4 5 5 1 2 17 
			 35 4 7 2 4 5 22 
			 36 4 1 1 2 4 12 
			 37 2 *3 *3 4 3 15 
			 38 4 2 *4 1 4 15 
			 39 5 *3 3 4 3 18 
			 40 2 3 2 4 5 16 
			 41  1 7 4 4 16 
			 42 1 2 1 3 3 10 
			 43 2 5 1 2 4 14 
			 44 2 2 1 6 6 17 
			 45  1 4 1 1 7 
			 46 2 1 2 3 1 9 
			 47 4 4 *3 4 2 17 
			 48 3  2  2 7 
			 49 1 1 2 4 1 9 
			 50 2 2 1 3 1 9 
			 51 2 2 *1 3 2 10 
			 52 1 3 1 3 3 11 
			 53 1 1 1 3 3 9 
			 54 2 1 *2 2 1 8 
			 55 2 2 2 3 2 11 
			 56 2 2 1 2 4 11 
			 57  2 1 1 3 7 
			 58 2 1 3 2 4 12 
			 59   3 3 1 7 
			 60 *1 2 2 1 4 10 
			 61 2 2 1 3  8 
			 62 1 2 3  7 13 
			 63 1 1  2 3 7 
			 64 4  2  1 7 
			 65 1  1 2 2 6 
			 66  2 1  1 4 
			 67  1 1 2 2 6 
			 68 2 2 1 1 2 8 
			 69  1 2 2 3 8 
			 70  1 4 3 2 10 
			 71 1 1 1  1 4 
			 72 2  2  1 5 
			 73 1 2 1 1 1 6 
			 74 2 2 
			 75 1 4  2 1 8 
			 76  1 1 1 2 5 
			 77  1 1 1  3 
			 78   1 2  3 
			 79  0 
			 80   1   1 
			 81 1  2 1 1 5 
			 82   1   1 
			 83  1   1 2 
			 84  0 
			 85  11 
			 Total 149 146 142 166 184 787 
		
	
	* Each asterisk represents a natural cause death that is included on the Prison Service database, but occurred outside of prison, for example, deaths of prisoners who absconded or who were on home leave.

Prisons

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of drug treatment and testing order participants in (a) 2001 and (b) 2002 reoffended in 2003 in Nottinghamshire.

Paul Goggins: This information is not available.
	A Home Office study published in 2003 (Home Office Research Findings No. 184) of the two year reconviction rates of the three drug treatment and testing order (DTTO) pilots sites showed an overall reconviction rate of 80 per cent. for the 174 DTTO offenders for whom criminal records were located on the Home Office's offenders index database. There were statistically significant differences in reconviction rates between those whose orders were revoked (91 per cent.) and those who completed their orders (53 per cent.).

Prisons

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  whether, under the increased use of contestability, in-house bid teams from the Prison Service will compete directly with the private sector for the operation of existing prison establishments;
	(2)  whether, under the increased use of contestability, private sector providers will be required to compete for the operation of existing prison establishments directly with the public sector provider.

Paul Goggins: One of the key principles underpinning the establishment of the National Offender Management Service is the use of contestability to improve the quality and efficiency of services to offenders. As part of this, we expect to announce a programme of market testing existing prison establishments. The private and public sectors will be invited to compete for the operation of the prisons.

Prisons

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the measures proposed in the national rehabilitation programme regarding accommodation outcomes for prisoners.

Paul Goggins: The Government will be publishing a national action plan to reduce reoffending in the summer. This will bring together work across Departments and agencies. It will include the development of a national accommodation strategy for offenders, mapping out action over the short and longer term to improve accommodation outcomes for released prisoners.

Prisons

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many positive mandatory drug tests there were, broken down by drug type, in (a) open prisons and (b) closed prisons in each of the last 10 years.

Paul Goggins: The Prison Service mandatory drug testing programme has been in operation since 199697. Yearly figures for the number of positive mandatory drug tests broken down by drug type in (a) open prisons and (b) closed prisons are given in the table. Figures for 200304 are not yet available.
	
		Number of positive tests broken down by drug type
		
			 Drug type 199697 199798 199899 19992000 200001 200102 200203 
		
		
			 Cannabis
			 Open 983 983 963 842 805 718 953 
			 Closed 16,494 15,490 13,739 11,602 8,647 6,926 7,242 
			 
			 Opiates
			 Open 188 193 219 341 349 409 329 
			 Closed 5,589 4,831 5,454 6,794 7,592 6,553 4,375 
			 
			 
			 Cocaine
			 Open 23 30 35 47 40 67 59 
			 Closed 215 257 292 372 432 373 327 
			 
			 Benzodiazepines  
			 Open 34 29 40 40 24 23 40 
			 Closed 1,448 1,382 1,487 1,668 1,822 1,524 1,404 
			 
			 Methadone
			 Open 3 1 2 0 1 1 0 
			 Closed 244 149 76 88 73 62 64 
			 
			 Amphetamines
			 Open 4 22 25 18 19 16 15 
			 Closed 182 173 124 115 69 67 48 
			 
			 Barbiturates
			 Open 1 0 5 0 0 3 2 
			 Closed 25 45 32 36 17 20 15 
			 
			 LSD
			 Open 0 0  0 0 0 0 
			 Closed 2 3  1 0 0 0 
			 
			 Buprenorphine
			 Open0 0 0 1 
			 Closed0 270 355 368 
			 
			 Total1,2
			 Open 1,236 1,258 1,289 1,288 1,238 1,237 1,399 
			 Closed 24,199 22,330 21,204 20,676 18,922 15,880 13,843 
		
	
	(21) A prisoner may test positive for more than one drug in each test.
	(22) Until August 2000 10 per cent. of prisoners were subject to random mandatory drug tests each month. Since that date establishments holding more than 400 prisoners have been required to test only 5 per cent. each month.

Prisons

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what target he has been set for the number of hours of purposeful activity to be completed by prisoners in 200405.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 29 June 2004
	No annual target for the number of hours of purposeful activity has been set for 200405. However, individual prisons will still agree a specific target for the average number of hours of purposeful activity per prisoner, per week.
	Purposeful activity remains an important measure. However, the introduction of specific Key Performance Indicators for prisoner educational achievement, rehabilitation and resettlement provides a more focussed measure of the work being undertaken in prisons to reduce re-offending.

Prisons

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evaluations are carried out, upon entry to prison, of the learning abilities of individual prisoners; and whether they can identify conditions such as dyslexia.

Paul Goggins: Past research suggests that the proportion of prisoners suffering from dyslexia could range from four to over 17 per cent. The new prison dyslexia project, currently under way in Yorkshire and Humberside, is designed to provide an authoritative answer to the question of the incidence of dyslexia and related learning disabilities among the prison population. A full report is expected at the end of the summer.
	All establishments provide screening and initial assessment for prisoners. Potential dyslexia indicators can be identified through them. New diagnostic assessments for prisoners, to be administered after initial assessment by a specialist teacher, will offer guidance on when to refer learners for a full dyslexia assessment with an educational psychologist or other appropriately trained person.

Prisons

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in each of the last three years the interception of a prisoner's communications has been authorised under Prison Rule 35A.

Paul Goggins: All telephone calls made on PIN phones by prisoners have been intercepted under Prison Rule 35A since the phased introduction of the PIN phone system at establishments over the period June 2001 to December 2003. Figures for the number of calls made in each of the last three years are not available but, as an indication of the volume, 55,261 calls were made on the PIN phone system on 21 June 2004. Numbers would have been progressively lower in earlier years as the PIN phone system was installed.
	A small proportion of PIN phone calls are listened to. Prior to the introduction of the PIN phone system at each establishment a small proportion of the calls made by prisoners were listened to, and that remains the case for three establishments not on the PIN phone system today.

Prisons

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of prisoners at HMP Kingston (a) aged under 65 and (b) aged over 65 are (i) employed and (ii) unemployed.

Paul Goggins: Kingston prison currently holds 120 prisoners under the age of 65, 119 of whom are employed. There are 14 prisoners aged 65 or over, nine of whom are employed. Employment is available at Kingston for all those who wish to work and are fit enough to do so.

Prisons

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many civil cases against the Prison Service relating to (a) deaths in custody, (b) medical negligence, (c) assaults and (d) prison discipline charges reached the courts in each of the last five years; and in how many cases the Prison Service (i) won, (ii) lost and (iii) settled out of court.

Paul Goggins: It is not possible to provide all of the figures requested, as they are not collated in this format. However, between April 1999 and 31 March 2004, 565 assaults claims and 226 clinical negligence claims have been initiated. Statistics on discipline, deaths in custody and cases won, lost and settled are not readily available.

Prisons

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners in England and Wales have been detained beyond the expiration of their sentence in each of the last five years; and for what length of time in each case.

Paul Goggins: Unfortunately, the information requested is not collated centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Prisons

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the awer of 19 April 2004, Official Report, column 326W, on prisons, if he will provide the figures excluding remand prisoners.

Paul Goggins: The information sought is not available. The Prison Service collates data by prison establishment, rather than at individual prisoner level. Although data can be aggregated to the level of establishment function and the majority of remand prisoners are held in 'local' prisons, these prisoners constitute only an element of the population and it is not possible to exclude the activity undertaken specifically by remand prisoners.

Prisons

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the prison population of each member state of the European Union was on 1 May.

Paul Goggins: The Home Office has collected information on the prison population for each member state of the European Union from official sources. The most recent information relates to 2003.
	
		Prison population(23)
		
			  Country  2003 Rate(23) 0  per 100,000 population in 2003 
		
		
			 England and Wales(24) 72,992 140 
			 Northern Ireland 1,128 66 
			 Scotland(25) 6,524 129 
			 Austria(26) (23) (23)93 
			 Belgium(25) 9,039 87 
			 Cyprus 358 50 
			 Czech Republic(27) 17,277 169 
			 Denmark 3,522 65 
			 Estonia(28) 4,352 321 
			 Finland(27) 3,463 66 
			 France(29) 57,440 93 
			 Germany(30) 79,153 96 
			 Greece 8,418 (23) 
			 Hungary(27) 16,507 163 
			 Ireland (Eire) 3,101 (23) 
			 Italy 56,761 98 
			 Latvia 8,135 344 
			 Lithuania (28) 11,070 320 
			 Luxembourg 498 111 
			 Malta 281 71 
			 Netherlands (23) (23)101 
			 Poland(24) 80,692 211 
			 Portugal 14,060 135 
			 Slovakia 8,829 164 
			 Slovenia 1,099 55 
			 Spain 55,244 132 
			 Sweden (31) 6,755 75 
		
	
	(23) At 1 September: number of prisoners including pre-trial detainees.
	(24) At 31 August.
	(25) Average daily population.
	(26) Annual averages.
	(27) At 31 December.
	(28) At 1 January.
	(29) Metropolitan and overseas departments.
	(30) At 31 December until 2002, then at 30 November.
	(31) At 1 October.
	(32) 0 Based on estimates of national population.
	(33)(34) In 2002.
	(35)Data not available.
	Source:
	Statistical contacts in each country; International Centre for Prison Studies, Kings College, London (World Prison Population Brief at www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/rel/icps) .

Probation Service

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff taken on by the national probation service since December 1999 are probation service officers; and how many are qualified to complete pre-sentence reports and parole assessments.

Paul Goggins: The table gives the number of probation service officers (PSOs) recruited in each year since December 1999.
	
		England and Wales1,2
		
			  Probation Service Officers 
		
		
			 1999 2,502 
			 2000 2,869 
			 2001 3,566 
			 2002 4,083 
			 30 June 2003(38) (39)4,807 
			 30 September 2003(40) 5,205 
		
	
	(36) Numbers shown as whole-time equivalents.
	(37) Information shown taken at 31 December.
	(38) Figures taken from Issue 01, Workforce Information Report published January 2004.
	(39) Adjusted figure. As a result of checks made with regards to the data submitted for Quarter 2, against that which was submitted for Quarter 1, a small number of areas adjusted and corrected their original returns for Quarter 1.
	(40) Figures taken from Issue 02, Workforce Information Report due to be published April 2004.
	PSOs now perform much of the low risk work previously carried out by probation officers, which has in turn allowed probation officers to concentrate on high risk offenders and the completion of those reports that require their level of developed competence. While overall responsibility rests with the supervising probation officer, PSOs frequently contribute to parole assessments. They are also involved in the completion of short format reports.

Probation Service

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost per square metre of providing office and storage space in Brecon, Powys was for (a) the Powys Probation Service in 2000 and (b) the National Probation Service in Brecon in 2003.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 10 June 2004
	The premises costs, including telephones of the Powys Probation Area in the financial year 200001 was 73,000, equivalent to 116 per square metre.
	With effect from 200304, all costs across the whole of the National Probation Estate were paid centrally and pooled. The national average cost per square metre was set at 180. The Dyfed-Powys Probation Area received extra grant income totalling 132,000 to help compensate for the increase in costs.

Recidivism

Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he is taking to prevent offences being committed by individuals released on bail.

Paul Goggins: The Government are determined to ensure that the courts give proper and careful consideration before exercising their discretion to grant bail where defendants who are already on bail commit an offence. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 provides that a defendant who applies for bail in respect of an offence that appears to have been committed while he was on bail for another offence may not be granted bail unless the court is satisfied that there is no significant risk of his offending again.

Refugees (Active Assistance)

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the EU draft communication on active assistance for refugees in or near their country of origin will be available.

Des Browne: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave on 22 June 2004, Official Report, column 1380W, in which I confirmed that the European Commission tabled its communication
	On the managed entry in the EU of persons in need of international protection and the enhancement of the protection capacity of the regions of origin: Improving access to durable solutions
	(COM(2004)410 final) on 4 June 2004.

Rehabilitation Action Plan

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the rehabilitation action plan will be published.

Paul Goggins: The Government will be publishing a national action plan to reduce re-offending in the summer.

Risk of Sexual Harm Orders

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many risk of sexual harm orders have been issued.

Paul Goggins: Risk of sexual harm orders were provided for by the Sexual Offences Act 2003 which came into force on 1 May 2004. Information on the number of orders made will be collected from the courts annually and the figures for 2004 will be available in the autumn of 2005.

Sentencing Guidelines Council

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the work of the Sentencing Guidelines Council.

Paul Goggins: The Sentencing Guidelines Council was established to produce a comprehensive set of guidelines for all courts, enabling them to approach a case from a common starting point. All courts will be required to take the guidelines into account when sentencing offenders, which will lead to greater consistency in sentencing. The Council members were appointed at the end of February and it has met three times so far.

Substance Misuse

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what advice he has given on civil and criminal liability for overdose deaths caused by treatment decisions made by non-medically trained drugs case managers under the National Offender Management Service;
	(2)  what training in medicine will be required for a drugs caseworker making decisions on drugs treatment under the National Offender Management Service.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 24 June 2004
	Treatment for drug misuse may involve clinical interventions (for example detoxification and prescribing) and non-clinical interventions (for example advice on lifestyle and thinking skills). Decisions on the clinical management of individual drug misusers are, and will remain, the responsibility of appropriately qualified health care professionals. Training in medicine is therefore not required for drug caseworkers, although they will be aware in general terms of the pharmacological effects of different drugs.

Teachers (Sexual Abuse)

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to ensure that teachers accused of sexual abuse are told the nature of the accusation at the start of the investigation.

Hazel Blears: The police and other relevant agencies always agree jointly when to inform a teacher accused of sexual abuse of a child where criminal proceedings are being considered. The document Working Together to Safeguard Children contains guidance on the handling of such allegations and was produced jointly by the Home Office, Department of Health, Department for Education and Skills in December 1999. The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) were involved in producing the guidance.
	The rights of all suspects are protected by the Codes of Practice produced under Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) at all stages of an investigation.

Teachers (Sexual Abuse)

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether sexual abuse allegations against teachers remain on file when allegations are proved to be false.

Hazel Blears: Information may be retained by the police when, in their judgement, and having regard to the particular circumstances, there is an operational ground for doing sofor instance, in the interest of the prevention or detection of crime, or public safety, or protection of the vulnerable. The need to continue to keep information must be reviewed in the light of such considerations. We shall be reviewing guidance issued to the police in light of the report of the Bichard Inquiry into matters arising from the Soham case.

DEFENCE

Advisers

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has spent on (a) political advisers, (b) management consultants, (c) accountants and (d) legal advisers in the last 12 months.

Ivor Caplin: holding reply 1 July 2004
	The Ministry of Defence is currently preparing a summary of the External Assistance expenditure for Financial Year 200304. This includes categories for Management Consultants, Accountants and Legal Advisers. This information will be placed in the Library of the Houses shortly. Once this takes place I will write to the hon. gentlemen.
	I also refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 16 July 2003, (Official Report, column 329W) to my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon, Central (Mr. Geraint Davies) setting out information about political advisers.

Air Tanker

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received from Marshall Aerospace in respect of air-to-air refuelling capability; and if he will make a statement on progress with the private finance initiative project for a new air tanker.

Adam Ingram: Marshall Aerospace has written to the Ministry of Defence a number of times with unsolicited proposals to provide future air refuelling capability. The Ministry of Defence is currently assessing whether future air refuelling requirements can be provided, at best value for money, through a PFI service contract with AirTanker Ltd., a consortium comprising EADS, Rolls Royce, Cobham and Thales. Discussions with AirTanker Ltd. are ongoing. No final decision has been made.

British-French Co-operation

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the letters of intent that pledge further co-operation between the British and French armies and navies, signed on 9 June.

Geoff Hoon: holding answer 28 June 2004
	I will arrange for copies of the United Kingdom and French Navy and Army Letters of Intent concerning co-operation signed on 9 June to be placed in the Library. The Annex giving information relating to operational and technical matters for the Navy is being withheld under exemption 1b and 1c of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Cadet Forces

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) establishment and (b) current recruited number is of (i) cadets and (ii) officers and other adult instructors in each of the cadet forces.

Ivor Caplin: The information is as follows:
	Establishments for affiliated Cadet Organisations.
	NavyThere is no establishment number.
	ArmyThere is no actual ACF Cadet establishment number.
	Air ForceThe Air Cadet Organisation has a cadet establishment of 50,000 cadets and 16,225 Officers. (June 2003)
	Combined Cadet ForceThe CCF is established for 48,663 cadets, and 2,118 officers.

Civil Service (Relocation)

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many civil servants and what percentage of the total civil service workforce in his Department will be relocated over the next five years (a) outside the M25, (b) to the West Midlands and (c) to Staffordshire.

Ivor Caplin: The Lyons Report gives details of the Ministry of Defence's relocation plans, which are being taken forward and refined as a part of the Spending Review.

Civilian Internees (Compensation)

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether those who were excluded from the compensation scheme for civilian internees of the Japanese were individually interviewed.

Ivor Caplin: The Veterans' Agency (formerly the War Pensions Agency), which administers the scheme, has a dedicated section dealing specifically with the ex gratia payment scheme. Although they have no formal interview process the section does provide advice on eligibility and on finding the evidence required to complete the application forms.

Correspondence

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for North Norfolk dated 29 April 2004 concerning BAE Systems and Robert Lee International.

Adam Ingram: My noble Friend, the Minister for Defence Procurement (Lord Bach), wrote to the hon. Member on 25 May 2004, within our 15 working day target for answering ministerial correspondence.

Gurkhas

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the strength of the Gurkhas was in each of the last five years; and in which countries they were deployed in the armed forces.

Ivor Caplin: The strength of the Brigade of Gurkhas during each of the last five years, as at 1 July and the countries in which they were deployed, were as follows:
	
		
			  Countries Number 
		
		
			 1999 Kosovo, East Timor 3,354 
			 2000 Kosovo, Falklands, Bosnia, Sierra Leone 3,361 
			 2001 Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Falklands, Macedonia 3,485 
			 2002 Kosovo, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone 3,473 
			 2003 Bosnia, Sierra Leone, Iraq 3,416 
			 2004 Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan(41) 3,394 
		
	
	(41) To date.
	In addition, Gurkhas are permanently present in the United Kingdom and Brunei; and a small recruiting and administration staff is maintained in Nepal.

Gurkhas

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people wished to be considered for service in the Gurkhas, and what the average selection time was, in the last three years.

Ivor Caplin: The numbers of applicants who wished to be considered for service in either the British Gurkhas or the Gurkha Contingent of the Singapore Police Force in each of the last three years are shown as follows. Initially, applicants are treated as potential recruits for either force until they are assigned during the selection process. The selection process each year takes 17 days, but due to conditions in Nepal this is spread over a four month period.
	
		
			  Numbers applying 
		
		
			 200102 25,413 
			 200203 26,797 
			 200304 22,521

Iraq

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 8 June 2004, Official Report, columns 45WS, on Iraq, what the alleged offences which have been subject to further investigation since 4 May are; and whether he expects further new investigations in addition to the 14 initiated.

Adam Ingram: Of the 14 cases subject to further investigation since 4 May noted in my statement of 8 June, 10 concern shooting incidents which occurred when UK soldiers were attacked and returned fire. The remaining four relate to allegations of ill-treatment. Since the statement was made a further four investigations have been initiated all of which concern fire fights with Iraqis. Given the difficult security environment in which our armed forces continue to operate in Iraq and our policy of investigating allegations and incidents, further investigations cannot be ruled out.

Iraq

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 8 June 2004, Official Report, columns 45WS, on Iraq, who is responsible for ensuring information on all investigations by service police into incidents in Iraq is collated; and where such information is held;
	(2)  pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 8 June 2004, Official Report, columns 45WS, on Iraq, who is responsible for incorporating details of investigations from all branches of service police.

Adam Ingram: The various service police branches are responsible for maintaining their own records. Information on investigations into alleged ill-treatment of Iraqi civilians by United Kingdom service personnel is currently being collated from various sources by the Adjutant General's Department.

Lance Corporal William Graham

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what role has been played by the 1st Battalion of the Royal Scots Regiment in the training of the new Iraqi police force and army; and what duties in this regard were undertaken by Lance Corporal William Graham.

Adam Ingram: 1st Battalion the Royal Scots Regiment deployed three companies to Iraq in support of 20 Armoured Brigade from December 2003 to April 2004. One company was responsible for training the Iraqi Police Service, and during this time trained approximately 3,000 policemen across the four sectors of the Basrah Rural Division. Lance Corporal Graham did not deploy to Iraq.

Light Multi-role Vehicle

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on progress in introducing the Army's Light Multi-role Vehicle.

Adam Ingram: The Alvis Vickers Limited Multi-role Light Vehicle, known as the Future Command and Liaison Vehicle (FCLV), will meet the Army's requirement for enhanced agility, reliability, flexibility and protection. FCLV is planned to enter service in 2007 and will enable users from the Combat, Combat Support and Combat Service Support arms to carry out their roles across the whole spectrum of conflict. A contract for the Demonstration and Manufacture phases of the Future Command and Liaison Vehicle was awarded in November 2003, with the manufacture of production vehicles scheduled to start at the beginning of 2006.

Parliamentary Questions

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to reply to question ref 178616 tabled by the hon. Member for North Norfolk.

Geoff Hoon: I replied to the hon. Member on 30 June 2004, (Official Report, column 355W).

Pensions

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) cash provision and (b) cash outturn was for the (i) War Pensions Benefits Programme costs, (ii) War Pensions Benefits Programme costsFar Eastern Prisoners of War and (iii) War Pensions Benefits Programme costsBritish Limbless Ex-Servicemen's Association request for resources three subheads in financial years (A) 200102, (B) 200203 and (C) 200304.

Ivor Caplin: In accordance with the Government Resource Accounting Act 2000 the Department's financial performance is reported to Parliament in the Consolidated Resource Accounts. The 200102 Accounts for War Pension Benefits Programme costs came under the Department for Social Security, now the Department for Work and Pensions, and their accounts were laid on 30 October 2002 ref: HC 1198. The 200203 Ministry of Defence Accounts were laid on 30 October 2003 ref: HCl 125. Copies are available in the Library of the House. The 200304 Accounts are yet to be laid before the House. The Ministry of Defence is not required to and does not account for cash under the headings upon which information is sought. Cash requirements are accounted for at Departmental level and details of Estimate and Outturn are included in Schedule 1 of the Resource Accounts.

Plastic Baton Rounds

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what percentage of plastic baton rounds available for use by British forces in Iraq have been transported from Northern Ireland after expiry of their use-by date.

Adam Ingram: None.

RAF Chilmark

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has concluded a sale of the whole of the site of former RAF Chilmark; whether work continues on the removal of ordnance; and if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: I can confirm that the site containing the HQ buildings and officers mess, has been cleared of ordnance and the sale was completed on 12 March 2004. The proof yard has also now been cleared and will be sold to the purchasers of the HQ site subject to a satisfactory land quality assessment. The only part of the site now awaiting disposal is Ladydown which is heavily contaminated. Clearance could take two to three years and disposal cannot proceed until this work is complete.

RAF Logistic Support Service

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) initial resource provision, (b) in-year variations, (c) resource outturn, (d) gross operating cost and (e) net operating cost for the RAF Logistic Support Service was for financial year 19992000.

Adam Ingram: The RAF Logistic Support Service was integrated with other organisations in 19992000 to form the Defence Logistics Organisation. It ceased to be an agency on 31 March 2000 and since no accounts direction was given by HM Treasury, separate accounts were not produced for the agency to cover 19992000. As a result, to provide the information requested would incur disproportionate cost.

RAF Personnel Management Agency

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) initial resource provision, (b) in-year variations and (c) resource outturn for the RAF Personnel Management Agency was for financial years 19992000 to 200304.

Adam Ingram: The RAF Personnel Management Agency's outturn was:
	
		
			 Financial Year Outturn  million 
		
		
			 19992000 14.371 
			 20002001 14.209 
			 20012002 14.978 
			 20022003 14.645 
			 20032004 13.989 
		
	
	Note:
	RAF PMA comprises Air Sec, GTS and ONCA
	I am not able to provide figures for initial resource provision or in-year variations as a direct comparison cannot be made with either published estimates or formal external reports.

Refurbishment Costs

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has spent on refurbishment since 1997.

Ivor Caplin: holding answer 1 July 2004
	Refurbishment is not a term which Ministry of Defence uses in gathering or recording financial information about the estate. Work on buildings which might be categorised as refurbishment can range from minor modifications and maintenance, to the complete restoration of buildings, and the maintenance of machinery such as lifts.

Royal Scots Regiment

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many practice firing ranges were available to the 1st Battalion of the Royal Scots Regiment during its tour of duty in Iraq.

Adam Ingram: In common with all coalition forces in Iraq, 1st Battalion the Royal Scots Regiment had and have access to firing ranges as required.

Special Investigation Branch

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the status of the outstanding Special Investigation Branch investigations into United Kingdom actions towards Iraqis.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 20 May 2004
	Since the statement I made to the House on 8 June 2004, Official Report, column 45WS), a further four incidents have been initiated, making a total of 79 cases which have been investigated or are under investigation by the Service Police. Of these, 33 are under investigation, 35 have been closed, nine have been referred to the Army Prosecuting Authority and two have been directed for trial.

Top Level Budget Holders

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what the (a) cash provision and (b) cash outturn was in financial years (i) 200102 and (ii) 200203 for the (A) 2nd Sea Lord/Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command, (B) Adjutant General, (C) Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF Personnel and Training Command, (D) Central, (E) Defence Procurement Agency and (F) Major Customers' Research Budget top level budget holders;
	(2)  what the (a) cash provision and (b) cash outturn was in financial years (i) 200102 and (ii) 200203 for the (A) Commander-in-Chief Fleet, (B) General Officer Commanding (Northern Ireland), (C) Commander-in-Chief Land Command, (D) Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF Strike Command, (E) Chief of Joint Operations and (F) Chief of Defence Logistics top level budget holders;
	(3)  what the (a) cash provision and (b) cash outturn in the financial year 200304 was for the (i) 2nd Sea Lord/Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command, (ii) Adjutant General, (iii) Air Officer Commanding- in-Chief RAF Personnel and Training Command, (iv) Central, (v) Defence Procurement Agency and (vi) Major Customers' Research Budget top level budget holders;
	(4)  what the (a) cash provision and (b) cash outturn in the financial year 200304 was for the (i) Commander-in-Chief Fleet, (ii) General Officer Commanding (Northern Ireland), (iii) Commander-in-Chief Land Command, (iv) Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF Strike Command, (v) Chief of Joint Operations and (vi) Chief of Defence Logistics top level budget holders.

Adam Ingram: Following the introduction of Resource Accounting and Budgeting (RAB) in 200102 Ministry of Defence Top Level Budget holders have been given budgets in resource terms rather than cash. Estimated Resource provisions for all MOD TLBs for 200304 was published in the Main Estimates with any revisions up to the turn of the year included in Supplementary Estimates. Provisional outturn figures for the MOD will be published in the Public Expenditure Outturn White Paper in July. Final figures, including a Departmental Cash Flow Statement, will be available when the Annual Report and Accounts is published at the end of September.

UN Operations

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) disciplinary proceedings have been undertaken, (b) criminal charges have been brought and (c) charges have been dropped in relation to the actions of United Kingdom forces towards Iraqis.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 20 May 2004
	No disciplinary measures under the Army Act 1955 have been taken against any individuals in connection with alleged abuses of Iraqi civilians. Criminal charges have been brought in two cases involving five individuals, proceedings have yet to take place. None of these charges have been dropped.

Watchkeeper Programme

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he intends to seek a revised or confirmed bid from each of the consortia bidding for the watchkeeper programme; and when he intends to announce a decision on the preferred bidder.

Adam Ingram: The competition for the Watchkeeper Demonstration, Manufacture and Initial Support phase is ongoing. It would be inappropriate to comment on the conduct of the competitive process. Timing of any announcement is dependent upon satisfactory completion of continuing assessment activities.

HEALTH

Anti-depressants

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health why Professor A. Breckenridge was asked to leave the room during the Committee on Safety of Medicines discussion of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor safety information at its meeting on 22 October 1998.

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health why Professor A. Breckenridge was asked to leave the room during the Committee on Safety of Medicines discussion of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors safety information at its meeting of 22 October 1998.

Rosie Winterton: The minutes of the Committee on Safety of Medicines of 22 October 1998 refer to Professor Breckenridge declaring a non-specific personal interest and leaving the room, not that he was asked to leave the room.

Anti-depressants

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the (a) quality and (b) outcome of the 1998 review of the risk of dependence on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and related anti-depressants conducted by the Sub-Committee on Pharmacovigilance.

Rosie Winterton: The then Medicines Control Agency (MCA) conducted a review of withdrawal reactions associated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and related antidepressants which was considered by the Sub-Committee on Pharmacovigilance on 24 February 1998 and the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) on 26 March 1998. The CSM endorsed the conclusions of the Sub-Committee on Pharmacovigilance, that all SSRIs were associated with withdrawal reactions, and that no strong evidence from any source had been identified to suggest that the SSRIs and related antidepressants cause features of dependence other than withdrawal symptoms.
	A separate review of all available data was subsequently conducted by the European Scientific Advisory Committee, the Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products (CPMP) with France and Germany as lead member states. The conclusions of this review were consistent with those of the CSM and were published in a CPMP position paper in 2000.

Anti-depressants

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he gives on the optimal dose for selective seratonin uptake inhibitors and related anti-depressant drugs.

Rosie Winterton: As with all medicines, the recommendations for dosing of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are provided in the product information for prescribes, the summary of product characteristics, and in the patient information leaflet.
	On 11 March 2004 the Committee on Safety of Medicines issued advice reminding prescribers of the recommended starting dose of one SSRIparoxetine (Seroxat). This followed re-review of the original dose finding studies for paroxetine and consideration of data which suggested a proportion of patients were being started on doses of paroxetine above those recommended for the treatment of depressive illness.

Anti-depressants

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the performance of the (a) Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and (b) Committee on Safety of Medicines in communicating to users the risks of dependence on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor and related drugs.

Rosie Winterton: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) informed prescribers about the potential for withdrawal reactions with paroxetine and other selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) via articles in the bulletin current problems in pharmacovigilance in 1993 and again in 2000. An information sheet for patients about use of SSRIs in the September 2003 edition of current problems in pharmacovigilance highlighted the issue of withdrawal reactions. This was drafted with the input of patient representatives from the CSM's expert working group on safety of SSRIs. There have been warnings about the possibility of withdrawal reactions with paroxetine listed in the product information for prescribers since the drug was first licensed in 1990. These warnings are also reflected in the patient information leaflet. Ministers are satisfied with the actions taken by the MHRA and CSM in this area.

Bounty Packs

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of the compliance of the distribution and content of Bounty packs in maternity units with the World Health Organisation's international code of marketing of breast milk substitutes;
	(2)  what assessment his Department has made of the implications of the content of Bounty packs provided to new mothers in maternity units for the Government's policy of increasing the number of women who breastfeed and increasing the length of time for which they breastfeed;
	(3)  what discussions the Department has had with the producers of Bounty packs concerning the content of such packs.

Melanie Johnson: We have not made an assessment of the contents of Bounty packs provided to new mothers in maternity units or the compliance of their distribution with the World Health Organisation's international code of marketing of breastmilk substitutes. We are fully committed to the promotion of breastfeeding as the best nutrition for infants. We have a commitment in the NHS Plan for increased support for breastfeeding and have set a target to increase breastfeeding initiation rates by 2 per cent. in the priority and planning framework 200306, with particular focus on women from disadvantaged groups. The Department has produced an evidence based breastfeeding resource 'Good Practice and Innovation in Breastfeeding' to support health professionals delivering the target. We are also working with Bounty and Baby Welcome to include our leaflet 'How to Breastfeed' in Bounty packs.

Care Homes

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 27 May 2004, Official Report, column 1833W, on care homes, how many care homes closed in (a) 200203 and (b) 200304; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: I understand from the Chair of the Commission for Social Care Inspection that information is only available on the number of homes de-registering. De-registrations will include homes that are to be permanently closed but will also include, for example, homes that temporarily de-register and then re-register in order to change the services that they provide to their residents. Numbers of permanent closures cannot be separately identified.
	Information on the number of homes registered and de-registered is shown in the tables.
	
		
			  Care homes 
			  Registered De-registered 
		
		
			 200203 1,902 3,060 
			 200304 2,653 3,400

Critical Care Networks (Transfers)

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the number of transfers within critical care networks for non-clinical reasons in each year since 1996; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The Department does not collect validated data on critical care transfers for non-clinical reasons. However, un-validated management information, collected weekly from the national health service, shows the reported transfers of critically ill patients between hospitals for non-clinical reasons. This information is not broken down by critical care networks and has only been collected since 2000. The information has been used to produce the annual estimates shown in the table.
	
		
			  Estimated number of non-clinical critical care transfers 
		
		
			 200001 3,899 
			 200102 2,582 
			 200203 2,201 
			 200304 1,820

Dentistry

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which English dental schools (a) he or ministerial colleagues and (b) members of the senior civil service have visited in the last six months.

Rosie Winterton: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State and Ministers have not visited dental schools in the last six months. Senior civil servants are in regular discussion with representatives of dental schools. In the last six months, senior officials have visited the Eastman Dental Institute, Guy's, King's and St. Thomas' Dental Institute, the Royal London Dental School, Manchester Dental School and Birmingham Dental School.

Dentistry

Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 14 June 2004, Official Report, columns 68081W, on dentistry, when the British Dental Association and other dental organisations will receive the draft new base contract for NHS dentists with the proposed contract values.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 21 June 2004
	We will be working closely with the British Dental Association (BDA) and the national health service to develop a simple and robust base contract that all primary care trusts and practices will be able to put in place from 2005. Details of the base contract are still under discussion, a further negotiating meeting with the BDA is scheduled to take place in July. We plan to publish draft regulations and model contracts for consultation by October 2004.

Dentistry

Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 14 June 2004, Official Report, columns 68081W, on dentistry, what methods are under consideration to enable NHS dentists to know for which patients they have responsibility for NHS treatment.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 21 June 2004
	Primary care trusts, as commissioners, will need to know the numbers who are accessing national health service dental treatment in their local area. Dentists will need to maintain records about the patients they are treating and the Dental Practice Board will be able to provide the information for them to do so. Patients will want to know which dentist they can see when they need treatment.

Dentistry

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of calls to NHS Direct in 200304 (a) in total and (b) to the Stafford call centre were about NHS dentistry.

Rosie Winterton: NHS Direct started collecting data centrally relating to calls made to NHS Direct about national health service dentistry in January 2003. Between January 2003 and February 2004, the proportion of total calls to NHS Direct about NHS dentistry was 3.8 per cent. Over the same period, the proportion of total calls to the NHS Direct call centre in Stafford about NHS dentistry was 7.4 per cent.

Dentistry

Candy Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he has taken to improve access to NHS dentists in Cornwall.

Rosie Winterton: Nationally, we have provided new investment totalling 90 million over the last year. 59 million will support access and strategic health authorities (SHAs) have been advised of their shares and are working with their primary care trusts (PCTs) to address access issues. 30 million is to support information technology and the balance of 1 million will support organisational development locally.
	The PCTs in Cornwall are working closely with the South West Peninsula SHA, supported by the shadow special health authority (dentistry) to improve local dental access using their share of the access funds: some 1.56 million in 200405.
	There is currently one dental access centre operating in Cornwall, which last year treated over 23,000 patients. In addition, the whole of the South West Peninsula SHA area has been identified as an Options for Change field site and dentists are increasingly opting for the new ways of working that personal dental services allows. A total of thirty practices across the South West Peninsula have now adopted local contracts with their PCTs under Options for Change.
	We are specifically aware of access issues in the South West Peninsula (Devon and Cornwall) and officials from the shadow special health authority for dentistry visited the area at the beginning of June 2004 to see what additional help could be provided.
	Under consideration is the area's inclusion within a recruitment initiative to supply international dentists.

Departmental Staff

Patsy Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time equivalent staff there have been in (a) his Department and (b) its agencies for each year since 1997.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested is available in the annual publication, Civil Service Statistics, which is published by the Cabinet Office. Copies of Civil Service Statistics 2002, which was published on 24 July 2003 and copies of Civil Service Statistics for the previous years are available in the Library and at www.civil-service.gov.uk/statistics.

Diabetes

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has commissioned on adverse reactions to (a) synthetic insulin and (b) animal insulin; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Clinical trials carried out by the marketing authorisation holder for synthetic and animal insulins were evaluated at the time of licensing to ensure that these products met appropriate standards of safety, quality and efficacy to justify their use in the treatment of diabetes. Full guidance on prescribing and the use of synthetic and animal insulins, including possible side effects, is provided in the product information for prescribers via the summary of product characteristics and for patients via the patient information leaflet.
	Since the marketing of these products, although no formal research has been commissioned, the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) and its sub-committee on pharmacovigilance (SCOP) have kept the safety of synthetic (human) and animal insulins under close review. These committees have considered the available data, including an independent review of clinical trial data by the Cochrane collaboration and any new publications, on a number of occasions. The most recent consideration in 2002 confirmed the committees' previous advice that, although some patients have experienced problems on transferring to human insulin and are better suited to animal derived insulins, there is no evidence of a safety concern specific to human insulin. Prescribers have been informed of this advice via the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency/CSM drug safety bulletin, Current Problems in Pharmacovigilance.

Drinking Water

Debra Shipley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the implications for children's health of a lack of access to drinking water during the day.

Stephen Ladyman: The importance of children having access to a wholesome supply of drinking water is recognised in guidance relating to schools and within advice issued by NHS Direct and the Department on nutrition and maintaining a healthy life style.

Drug Purchasing

David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what reports he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the benefits of creating buying groups for drug purchase across all health authorities.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 30 June 2004
	For many years, national health service hospital contracting for pharmaceuticals in England has been organised on a group basis. Hospital pharmacists, on behalf of their NHS trusts, aggregate their hospital business which is then competitively tendered by the NHS Purchasing and Supply and Agency (NHS PASA). The groups adjudicate the framework agreements that are then awarded and managed, on their behalf, by NHS PASA. The approach is highly structured in terms of timing and management, and the groups share information and develop shared strategies through arrangements co-ordinated at the national level, by NHS PASA, to optimise performance.
	The 2003 review of the group contracts, commissioned by the Department, will lead to the introduction of national contracts for near patent expiry and generic medicines. These contracts are scheduled to start on 1 November 2004.
	Community contractors do not have access to these framework agreements.

General Practitioners (Murston)

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for additional general practitioner surgeries in Murston; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: In line with the principles of Shifting the Balance of Power, it is for local primary care trusts to decide whether extra surgeries are needed and if they are, where they should be located and how they should be funded in order to meet national and local priorities. Since 1 April 2004, premises growth funding has been allocated to the national health service, rather than being held centrally. This funding is for the improvement or replacement of primary care premises, whether or not through the local improvement finance trust initiative.

Generic Drugs

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the change in the cost of generic drugs was in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Details of the number, net ingredient cost (NIC) and average NIC per prescription item for medicines prescribed and dispensed generically in the community in England during the period 200103 are shown in the table.
	
		Prescribed and dispensed generically
		
			  Number of prescription items (million) NIC ( million) Average ingredient cost per prescription () 
		
		
			 2001 297.5 1,035.4 3.48 
			 2002 317.9 1,297.0 4.08 
			 2003 350.1 1,694.6 4.84 
		
	
	The main reason for the increase in the number of generic prescriptions is that several major drugs, such as simvastatin, have recently come out of patent. The Government has reduced the price paid for some of these drugs from 1 December 2003.

Mental Health

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioner referrals to mental health specialists there were in each of the last 10 years.

Rosie Winterton: Information on the number of general practitioner written referral requests for a first out-patient appointment with consultant medical specialists in psychiatry in England in each of the last 10 years is shown in the table.
	Information about referrals from general practitioners to other mental health specialists is not collected centrally.
	
		Number of GP written referral requests for first out-patient appointment, mental health specialties, England -- Provider based
		
			  Quarter Mental handicap Mental illness Child and adolescent psychiatry Forensic psychiatry Psychotherapy Old age psychiatry 
		
		
			 199405 1 668 27,801 6,641 35 792 2,784 
			 199405 2 462 32,756 7,205 133 793 3,642 
			 199405 3 462 34,909 9,142 93 1,017 3,658 
			 199405 4 800 37,788 9,406 111 951 4,319 
			 199506 1 780 38,367 9,989 171 1,138 4,349 
			 199506 2 725 38,795 8,593 42 1,061 5,036 
			 199506 3 714 35,776 9,583 396 1,063 5,090 
			 199506 4 660 41,654 11,070 67 1,165 5,671 
			 199607 1 725 41,349 9,439 60 1,081 5,622 
			 199607 2 622 38,864 9,086 60 1,171 5,662 
			 199607 3 765 41,539 11,323 62 1,051 5,252 
			 199607 4 668 42,456 10,773 97 1,201 5,865 
			 199708 1 849 43,730 10,390 135 1,184 6,332 
			 199708 2 864 41,691 9,195 95 1,104 6,222 
			 199708 3 903 41,352 10,743 92 1,159 6,203 
			 199708 4 887 42,517 11,506 83 1,314 6,763 
			 199809 1 981 39,195 9,262 166 1,568 6,628 
			 199809 2 1,130 39,419 8,153 81 1,221 7,027 
			 199809 3 929 39,954 9,449 71 1,228 6,868 
			 199809 4 1,348 41,749 10,492 91 1,332 7,799 
			 19992000 1 978 38,872 9,786 75 1,333 6,900 
			 19992000 2 972 38,418 7,839 89 1,168 8,153 
			 19992000 3 938 37,479 8,913 76 1,282 7,323 
			 19992000 4 940 40,529 9,725 79 1,414 8,060 
			 200001 1 944 39,844 8,374 70 1,209 8,543 
			 200001 2 1,020 38,475 7,708 71 1,271 8,684 
			 200001 3 939 38,118 9,154 56 1,184 9,150 
			 200001 4 1,015 40,256 8,995 55 1,179 10,863 
			 200102 1 2,196 38,423 7,583 66 1,022 9,851 
			 200102 2 1,068 35,536 6,538 227 1,171 9,853 
			 200102 3 1,043 37,359 8,308 78 1,307 9,837 
			 200102 4 972 36,894 9,077 69 1,332 10,582 
			 200203 1 986 34,537 6,724 61 1,118 10,393 
			 200203 2 734 35,389 6,411 88 1,348 10,148 
			 200203 3 1,042 35,089 6,602 54 1,058 10,640 
			 200203 4 757 34,792 6,609 26 1,049 11,405 
			 200304 1 715 32,696 5,682 41 969 11,681 
			 200304 2 760 32,880 5,226 56 747 11,963 
			 200304 3 800 32,460 5,655 44 794 12,600 
			 200304 4 1,312 32,250 5,749 47 742 13,390 
		
	
	Source:
	Department of Health form QM08

Mental Health

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people are diagnosed with severe mental illness; how many are in contact with (a) secondary and (b) primary mental health services; and how many are not in contact with any mental health service.

Rosie Winterton: Information is not available in the requested format.
	All people of working age who are in contact with specialist mental health services have their treatment and care managed under the care programme approach. Information about service users under the care programme approach is collected at trust level.
	The Department also collects hospital episodes statistics data (HES) containing diagnostic information about in-patients in national health service hospitals who have finished their hospital episodes under the care of a consultant specialist and have been discharged, transferred to another hospital or a consultant specialist or died. HES data is available at: http://www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Statistics/HospitalEpisodeStatistics/fs/en
	The Office for National Statistics has also published Psychiatric Morbidity Among Adults Living in Private Households, 2000, which describes the prevalence of a range of mental disorders in the general household population. It also describes how people with particular disorders differ from those without any disorder on a range of factors: their background and personal characteristics, including employment and accommodation, physical health, current treatment and service use.
	Better or Worse: a longitudinal study of the mental health of adults living in private households in Great Britain, an 18 month follow up of people interviewed for the 2000 survey, has been published in 2003. It showed patterns of treatment and care for those with common mental disorders across all sectors of the service. Copies of these publications are available in the Library.

NHS Dental Workforce Review

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the NHS dental workforce review will be published; and what the reasons are for the delay in publication.

Rosie Winterton: We intend to publish the dental workforce review shortly. The publication has been delayed so workforce reforms can be seen as part of the overall package of dental reform currently underway and the longer-term strategy to train a dental workforce appropriate to people's oral health needs.

NHS Direct

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many calls have been made to NHS Direct in (a) Lancashire, (b) the North West and (c) England in each of the last three years.

Rosie Winterton: NHS Direct call data is collected nationally from each of the 22 NHS Direct sites. As the NHS Direct North West Coast site covers Lancashire, Merseyside and Cumbria, it is not possible to measure the number of calls made to NHS Direct in Lancashire.
	The table shows the total number of calls made to the NHS Direct North West Coast site, the two sites located in the North West and nationally.
	
		
			  200102 200203 200304 
		
		
			 Lancashire (North West Coast) 327,418 340,091 375,237 
			 The North West (North West Coast and Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Wirral) 798,016 783,782 858,671 
			 England 5,213,062 6,318,844 6,427,321

NHS Direct

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS Direct call centres operate in (a) Lancashire, (b) the North West and (c) England; and where they are based.

Rosie Winterton: There are four NHS Direct call centres in Lancashire; based at Preston, Chorley, Blackburn and Blackpool. There are a further seven call centres located elsewhere in the North West; based at Bolton (two), Manchester, Southport, St. Helens, Chester and Nantwich.
	There are a further 35 call centres located elsewhere in England. The table shows where they are based.
	
		
			 NHS Direct site Call centres Geographical coverage 
		
		
			 Anglia Cambridge, Ipswich, Norwich Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk 
			 Avon, Gloucester and Wiltshire Bristol Avon, Gloucester and Wiltshire 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Bedford Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 
			 Birmingham, Black Country and Solihull Dudley, Tipton, Selly Oak (two), Walsall West Midlands 
			 East Midlands Nottingham Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 
			 Essex Chelmsford Essex, London borough of Barking and Havering 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight Southampton Hampshire and Isle of Wight 
			 Kent, Surrey and Sussex Caterham, Chatham Surrey, Kent and Sussex 
			 Midland Shires Stafford Staffordshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Warwickshire and Worcester 
			 North and Central London London Barnet, Barking and Havering Enfield and Haringey Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster 
			 North East Newcastle Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 
			 North East London Ilford East London and City Redbridge and Waltham Forest 
			 South East London Dulwich Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham 
			 South West London Croydon Croydon, Kingston and Richmond Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth 
			 South Yorkshire and Number Sheffield, Doncaster South Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire 
			 Tees, East and North Yorkshire York (two), Hull, Middlesbrough East Riding, Cleveland and North Yorkshire 
			 Thames Valley and Northamptonshire Milton Keynes Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire 
			 West Country Exeter, Truro, Plymouth, Taunton, Ferndown Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset 
			 West London Southall Hillingdon, Brent and Harrow Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow 
			 West Yorkshire Wakefield Calderdale and Kirklees, Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield and North Yorkshire

NHS Direct

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time for calls to NHS Direct to be answered were in each of the last three years.

Rosie Winterton: Information on the average waiting time for calls to NHS Direct to be answered is not collected centrally.

NHS Funding

Rudi Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money was allocated to (a) mental health services and (b) the NHS as a whole in England in each of the last 10 years.

Rosie Winterton: It is not possible to estimate the level of funding for mental health services as part of the total national health service expenditure.
	The NHS Plan announced extra annual investment of over 300 million by 200304 to fast-forward the national service framework for mental health.
	Information about the total NHS expenditure since 199596 is shown in the table.
	For the latest round of allocations for 200304 to 200506, none of the growth money has been identified for specific purposes as under Shifting the Balance of Power.
	It is for primary care trusts, in partnership with strategic health authorities and other local stakeholders, to determine how best to use their funds to meet national and local priorities for improving health, tackling health inequalities and modernising services.
	
		NHS total expenditure, England, 199596 to 200405
		
			   Net NHS expenditure ( billion) 
		
		
			 Cash(42)   
			 199596 Outturn 32.0 
			 199697 Outturn 33.0 
			 199798 Outturn 34.7 
			 199899 Outturn 36.6 
			 19992000 Outturn 39.9 
			
			 RB Stage 1 2   
			 19992000 Outturn 40.2 
			 200001 Outturn 43.9 
			 200102 Outturn 49.0 
			 200203 Outturn 54.0 
			
			 RB Stage 2 3   
			 200203 Outturn 55.7 
			 200304 Estimated outturn 63.7 
			 200405 Plan 69.2 
		
	
	(42) Expenditure pre 19992000 is on a cash basis.
	(43) Expenditure figures from 19992000 to 200203 are on a Stage 1 resource budgeting basis.
	(44) Planned expenditure figures from 200203 to 200405 are on a Stage 2 resource budgeting basis.
	Note:
	Figures are not directly comparable across the whole period.

Overseas Dentists

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much spending has been allocated to the recruitment of overseas dentists for (a) 200405 and (b) 200506; and if he will make a statement on discussions between his Department and the Treasury regarding this spending.

Rosie Winterton: Resources agreed within the overall SR2002 settlement have been allocated to the recruitment of overseas dentists in 200405 and 200506 to improve access to national health service dentistry.

Worcestershire NHS Acute Trust

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cancelled operations there were in each of the last seven years in the Worcestershire NHS Acute Trust area; how many times the day unit has been closed in each of the last seven years; and how many (a) doctors, (b) nurses, (c) managers, (d) administrators and (e) midwives were employed by the trust in each of the last seven years.

Stephen Ladyman: Worcestershire Acute Hospitals National Health Service Trust was formed in April 2000 by the merging of Kidderminster Healthcare NHS Trust, Worcester Royal Infirmary NHS Trust and Alexandra Healthcare NHS Trust.
	Collection of cancelled operations data at individual NHS trust level began in 200102 in preparation for the implementation of the NHS Plan cancelled operations guarantee. Data for the years prior to 200102 are not available at NHS trust level.
	Table 1 shows the number of operations cancelled by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, for non-clinical reasons for the past three years.
	
		Table 1
		
			  200102 200203 200304 1 
		
		
			 Last minute cancellations 459 856 781 
			 On the day of surgery cancellations 70 497 360 
		
	
	(45) The full year's data for 200304 are not available yet. The figures given are the totals up to the end of quarter 3.
	West Midlands South Strategic Health Authority reports that Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust has never closed the day case units at either Worcestershire Royal Hospital or the Alexandra Hospital.
	Table 2 shows the total numbers of doctors, nurses, midwives, senior managers, managers, and clerical and administrative staff at the trust and its predecessor organisations.
	
		Table 2
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Total doctors(46): 385 391 376 365 379 401 417 
			 Kidderminster Healthcare NHS Trust 105 106 99 
			 Worcester Royal Infirmary NHS Trust 167 171 165 
			 Alexandra Healthcare NHS Trust 113 114 112 
			 Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust365 379 401 417 
			 
			 Total qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff: 1,736 1,698 1,755 1,458 1,662 2,532 2,812 
			 Kidderminster Healthcare NHS Trust 583 564 588 
			 Worcester Royal Infirmary NHS Trust 739 693 704 
			 Alexandra Healthcare NHS Trust 414 441 463 
			 Worcestershire Acute hospitals NHS Trust1,458 1,560 1,699 1,875 
			 Of which:
			 Registered midwives: 260 288 287 257 260 246 270 
			 Kidderminster Healthcare NHS Trust 32 31 29 
			 Worcester Royal Infirmary NHS Trust 140 172 156 
			 Alexandra Healthcare NHS Trust 88 85 102 
			 Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust257 260 246 270 
			 
			 Total senior managers: 23 24 24 16 19 20 48 
			 Kidderminster Healthcare NHS Trust 7 7 8 
			 Worcester Royal Infirmary NHS Trust 11 13 13 
			 Alexandra Healthcare NHS Trust 5 4 3 
			 Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust16 19 9 33 
			 
			 Total managers: 46 48 43 40 39 72 81 
			 Kidderminster Healthcare NHS Trust 15 16 19 
			 Worcester Royal Infirmary NHS Trust 14 14 11 
			 Alexandra Healthcare NHS Trust 17 18 13 
			 Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust40 37 46 46 
			 
			 Total clerical and administrative: 842 866 841 749 887 1,202 1,182 
			 Kidderminster Healthcare NHS Trust 279 285 254 
			 Worcester Royal Infirmary NHS Trust 335 347 350 
			 Alexandra Healthcare NHS Trust 228 234 237 
			 Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust749 880 869 823 
		
	
	(46) Excludes hospital medical hospital practitioners and hospital medical clinical assistants, most of whom are general practitioners working part time in hospitals.
	Note:
	Figures are headcount at 30 September each year.
	Source:
	Department of Health non-medical workforce census.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Visas

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the average response time is for cases left by hon. Members and their staff with the visa correspondence section of UK Visas.

Chris Mullin: Under Government Service Delivery targets, UKvisas aims to reply to letters from hon. Members within 15 working days. For the calendar year of 2003 the average response time was 14.84 working days. So far in 2004 (week ending 25 June) the average response time was 16.42 working days (not including those that have yet to be sent a reply). These figures take into account the letters drafted for Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers.

Correspondence

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will take steps to ensure that the name of the constituent of the honourable Member for East Antrim, notified in previous correspondence, who received unsolicited correspondence in respect of Iraq in March 2003 (a) will be removed from data held by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and (b) will not be disclosed to any other UK Government department.

Bill Rammell: In view of the special circumstances that have been brought to our attention, we will destroy the letter we hold which purported to be from the constituent. There has never been any intention to transfer the name of the constituent to any other UK Government Department, but in any event such a transfer would only occur when permitted by the Data Protection Act 1998.

Democratic Republic of Congo

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to take up the issue of troop levels for peace-keeping purposes in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Chris Mullin: UN Security Council Resolution 1493 of July 2003 increased the troop ceiling for MONUC, the UN Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, from 8,400 to 10,800. The level presently stands at 10,754. We are working with MONUC and within the Security Council to ensure that the mandate renewal due in July authorises the necessary adjustments to maintain and improve MONUC's effectiveness in the light of recent events.

Departmental Staff

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many people have left employment in his Department because of (a) anxiety, (b) stress, (c) depression and (d) other mental health reasons in each year since 1997.

Mike O'Brien: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Mr. Marsden) on 14 May 2003, Official Report, column 293W.

Departmental Staff

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the total amount paid by his Department to employment agencies for the supply of temporary staff was in financial year 200304.

Mike O'Brien: During the financial year 200304, the accounts of which have yet to be finalised, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office paid a total of 1,630,613 to employment agencies for the supply of agency staff. This figure includes both remuneration to the staff concerned and fees to the agencies.

Departmental Water Consumption

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department has joined the Watermark project.

Bill Rammell: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office joined the Watermark project in 2001.

Departmental Water Consumption

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the non-office sites within the departmental estate which have been identified as being likely to provide opportunities for significant water savings.

Bill Rammell: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office estate is mainly office based. In the UK our non-office estate consists of a conference and events centre and the official residence of the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. Water use at these sites is monitored but neither has been identified as providing opportunities for substantial water savings. We also have a mixed-use site in Buckinghamshire, which includes stores, warehousing facilities and vehicle workshops. An environmental management system is currently being rolled out at this site and achieving water savings is one of its objectives. Overseas, our non-office sites are mainly for staff accommodation, none of them have been identified as being likely to provide opportunities for significant water savings.

EU Constitution

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list each of the areas of decision-making in which the United Kingdom will lose its power of veto if the EU constitution, as currently agreed, secures endorsement in the forthcoming referendum.

Denis MacShane: holding answer 24 June 2004
	In the provisional consolidated version of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (CIG 86/04) agreed by Heads of State and Government at the European Council on 18 June 2004, 15 Articles (or sub-paragraphs) will move from a unanimous voting mechanism to Qualified Majority Voting. These are: Articles I36(3), I53(4), III21, III26.1b, III79(3a), III134, III171, III174, III176, III177, III181, III264, III269, III289 and III289a(2b). One of these Articles (III21) has an emergency brake mechanism which allows a Member State an effective veto. Article (III171) has an emergency brake mechanism which can lead to enhanced co-operation, allowing a Member State not to participate in the action concerned.
	In CIG 8604, 24 new Articles (or sub-paragraphs) are introduced at QMV. These are: Articles I21, I27, I46(4), I59(2), III6, III11, III68, III83, III90, III155, III157, III161, III172, III173, III181a, III182, III184, III185, III201(b), III212, III222, III223(3), III231 and III262. One of these Articles (III172) has an emergency brake mechanism which can lead to enhanced co-operation, allowing a Member State not to participate in the action concerned.
	Under the new Treaty, the UK will retain its existing 'Protocol on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland on policies in respect of border controls, asylum and immigration, and on judicial cooperation in civil matters' and therefore retains the right to take part in such measures on a case by case basis. Articles III166, 167, and 168, covered by this Protocol, now provide for decisions by QMV under the new Treaty, but the Treaty of Amsterdam provided anyway for a potential move to QMV from 1 May 2004. Of the Articles mentioned above, the Protocol also covers Articles III161 (under certain circumstances), and III176(2a).

EU Foreign Minister

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the (a) powers and (b) duties that will be given to the proposed EU Foreign Minister.

Denis MacShane: holding answer 29 June 2004
	Once the Constitutional Treaty is ratified and in force, the Union Minister for Foreign Affairs would be responsible for the implementation of the policy decisions in the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) adopted unanimously by the European Council and the Council of Ministers, and together with the Council he or she would also be responsible for ensuring the principles laid down in the Treaty on CFSP are complied with.
	The Union Minister for Foreign Affairs would also be able to make proposals to the European Council and Foreign Affairs Council for development of EU foreign policy. Once these are decided by Member States, on the basis of unanimity, he or she would act as the Council's servant to implement them. He or she may also propose that a Special Representative is appointed by the Council. The Union Minister for Foreign Affairs would also take on the role currently carried out by the Presidency in conducting political dialogue with third parties and representing the Union at international organisations and conferences including representing an agreed EU position in the United Nations at the request of Member States who are members of the Security Council. He or she, along with the Commission, would also be charged with establishing relations with other international organisations.
	The Union Minister for Foreign Affairs would have the following duties: he/she would conduct the Union's common foreign and security policy (Article 127(2)); be a Vice-President of the Commission (Article 127(4)); chair the Foreign Affairs Council; head the External Action Service and be responsible for Union delegations overseas. He or she would also be responsible for: the external relations aspects of Commission business: ensuring the consistency of the Union's external action and consulting the European Parliament on the development of common foreign and security policy in line with the consultation procedure allowed for in the Treaty.

European Council

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the Prime Minister's oral statement of 21 June 2004, Official Report, column 1080, on the European Council, what the evidential basis is for his statement that EU membership provides an extra 1.8 per cent. of GDP every year for Britain; whether the 3.5 million jobs cited represent the number of jobs dependent on trade with EU member states; how many of this number may be ascribed to (a) growth in the United Kingdom economy and (b) removal of trade barriers consequent on single market membership; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: Various means are used to measure trading and economic ties between nation states. While different measures of Single Market benefits produce slightly different results, all underline the importance of membership of the EU for British jobs and prosperity.
	In 2002, the European Commission estimated that EU GDP had increased by 1.8 per cent. thanks to the Internal Market. European households were estimated to be 3,800 richer (source: European Commission (2002) Internal MarketTen Years without Frontiers). These are conservative estimates, which do not take account of the full impact of on-going liberalisation in the service sectors.
	Estimates for the numbers of jobs in the UK linked, directly and indirectly, to the export of goods and services to the European Union, range upwards of 3 million. The 3 million figure is calculated on the basis that the share of total UK employment associated with UK exports to the EU is equal to the share of total UK value added (GVA) generated by UK exports to the EU. Academics have estimated that the number of jobs is as high as 3.5 million, once secondary, eg consumption, effects have been included.

General Affairs and External Relations Council

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 22 June 2004, Official Report, column 1329W, on the meeting of the General Affairs and External Relations Council on 14 June, what discussion there was at the meeting about the draft joint action relating to Galileo; and what decisions were made about it.

Denis MacShane: The joint action On aspects of the operation of the European Satellite radionavigation system affecting the security of the European Union (Doc. 9569/04) was adopted at the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council on 1011 June, rather than at the 14 June GAERC. The Transport Council was also considering a regulation and decision on other aspects of the Galileo programme, and it was therefore appropriate to adopt the joint action at the same council. It was adopted as an 'A' point, i.e. without actual discussion at the council.

Guantanamo Bay

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he intends to take to ensure that British nationals held at Guantanamo Bay are subject to a fair trial or are released; and what timescale he has set.

Chris Mullin: holding answer 15 June 2004
	Discussions between the British and US Governments on the situation of the four British detainees at Guantanamo Bay are continuing. The Government will continue to seek to resolve their position. No timescale has been set for this.

Iraq

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether UK-based private security contractors will enjoy immunity from prosecution under local Iraqi law after 30 June.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 14 June 2004
	CPA Order 17 governs the status of certain foreign private security contractors in Iraq after 28 June. These include private security contractors who are providing security services to Diplomatic Missions, the Multinational Force, International Consultants and other contractors defined in the Order, and their personnel. Such contractors will be immune from Iraqi legal process with respect to acts performed by them pursuant to the terms of a contract. Contractors must, however, respect Iraqi laws. Private security companies must comply with all CPA Orders and Memoranda. CPA Memorandum 17 obliges all such companies operating in Iraq to obtain a Business License from the Iraqi Ministry of Trade and an Operating License from the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior (MOI). The MOI will monitor the actions of such companies and can revoke their Operating License. The contracting state has the right to waive the immunity of such companies.

Iraq

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what use will be made of the media in Iraq to promote free and fair elections in Iraq; and whether special attention will be given to the participation of women in the election as (a) voters and (b) candidates.

Bill Rammell: A Foreign and Commonwealth Office-sponsored team in Baghdad is providing significant support to media development in Iraq, including establishing the Iraqi National Communications and Media Commission (INCMC) and an independent Iraqi National Public Broadcasting Service (INPBS). The team is working with the UN Electoral Assistance Mission to Iraq (UNAMI), INCMC, the INPBS, media organisations and political parties to develop a code of practice for fair and balanced coverage of the elections, including coverage of women candidates. The INPBS will be an independent and impartial platform for national debate and will ensure that the Iraqi public are fully informed about the issues affecting the elections, the political debate and the technicalities of voter registration and participation.
	The Transitional Administrative Law agreed on 8 March states that the electoral law for Iraq shall aim to achieve the goal of having women constitute no less than one-quarter of the members of the National Assembly. On the advice of Carina Perelli, Head of UNAMI, this has been encapsulated in the electoral law by stipulating that one in every three candidates in political party lists must be female. One of the objectives of DflD's political participation fund is to increase the opportunities for and participation of women in the political process.

Israel/Palestine

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what dates he has met the Israeli Ambassador since September 2000.

Bill Rammell: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary, as well as other Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers and officials, meet regularly with representatives from the Israeli Government. Meeting dates between the Foreign Secretary and the Israeli Ambassador dating back to 2000 could be provided only at disproportionate costs. However, the Israeli Ambassador has in the past 12 months been present on three occasions at meetings between the Foreign Secretary and the Israeli Prime Minister or other senior Israeli Ministers. My noble Friend the Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, as Minister responsible for the Government's relations with the Middle East, also meets with the Israeli Ambassador on a regular basis; and most recently the new Israeli Ambassador, Zvi Heifetz on 24 June.

Israel/Palestine

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 16 June 2004, Official Report, column 992W, on Israel, when he expects to announce what human rights issues the EU intends to raise at the EU/Israel Association Council to be held at the end of the year.

Bill Rammell: As is normal practice, the EU does not make announcements in advance about specific issues it intends to raise at the EU-Israel Association Council.

Israel/Palestine

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many United Nations Resolutions of (a) the Security Council and (b) the General Assembly condemning the actions of the state of Israel the Government have voted against since 1974; and in what year each vote was.

Bill Rammell: This information is available in the public domain. Texts of all United Nations Resolutions can be found on the UN website at www.un.org. Written requests for voting records dating back to 1974 can be submitted to the Archives Reference section in the United Nations in New York. The address is: Archives Reference Service, Room Q-328, United Nations New York, NY 10017.

Malaysia

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations Her Majesty's Government have received from Malaysian citizens about the long-term effects of the spraying of chemical 24-5-T by British forces in the country; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: According to our records, the high commission in Kuala Lumpur received a general inquiry in 1986 about the use of chemical 24-5-T in Malaysia.
	In response, the high commission provided factual information from files available in the National Archives.

MKO (Iran/Iraq)

Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answers of 28 June 2004, refs.180662 and 180663, if he will seek the advice of the Iraqi Interim Government on the steps they intend to take to deal with the 3,800 persons belonging to the proscribed terrorist organisation MKO who are housed in Camp Ashraf; and if he will propose that negotiations on the issue take place with the Government of Iran.

Bill Rammell: Arrangements for Camp Ashraf are being considered by the Iraqi Interim Government in conjunction with the US authorities. We are in close touch with both. There are a number of governments with a legitimate interest in the plans for Camp Ashraf as these develop.

Palestinian Authority

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many times he has met representatives of the Palestinian Authority since September 2000; and when those meetings were.

Bill Rammell: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary, as well as other Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers and officials, meet regularly with representatives of the Palestinian Authority. Details of all such meeting dates since September 2000 are not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate costs.

PFI Projects

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure that the private finance initiative projects for which his Department is responsible create the minimum of environmental damage.

Bill Rammell: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has only two PFI projectsthe British Embassy in Berlin and our telecommunications network (FTN). As with other major contracts PFI initiatives do consider environmental criteria and meet relevant environmental regulations. For the FTN project we ensured that the equipment provided by our PFI partner was, and is, at the leading edge and most environmentally efficient in terms of electrical power usage. Replacement components for FTN are also considered in terms of energy efficiency to help reduce the impact on the environment. The construction of the Embassy in Berlin was delivered in compliance with German environmental regulations and standards which encompass environmental protection.

PFI Projects

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the (a) sustainability and environmental impacts of its private finance initiative projects and (b) the capacity of the PFI process to deliver environmentally sustainable projects.

Bill Rammell: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is committed to sustainable development both in its foreign policy work and on its UK estate through the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate. The PFI projects we have been involved in to date have met environmental regulatory requirements and we seek to go beyond these requirements where possible. We have not however carried out formal environmental impact assessments of our PFI projects, neither have we assessed the capacity of the PFI process to deliver environmentally sustainable projects although there is no reason that this could not be achieved. Our Public Private Partnership (PPP) to upgrade our global desktop computer network has focused on reduced energy consumption and environmentally responsible reuse and disposal of equipment throughout the specification of requirements and evaluation of tenders.

Quartet Membership Expansion

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will hold discussions with members of the Quartet to expand its membership to include (a) Syria, (b) Jordan and (c) Egypt.

Bill Rammell: We have no plans to hold discussions on expanding Quartet membership to include Syria, Jordan and Egypt. But we have repeatedly made clear the value we attach to the role of regional Governments in the Middle East peace process. We have welcomed in particular the engagement of the Government of Egypt with Israel and the Palestinian Authority on Palestinian security issues.

St. Kitts and Nevis

Nick Hawkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will provide UK Government assistance by way of the provision of advisers to the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis on constitutional matters.

Bill Rammell: We have no plans at present to provide advisers to the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis on constitutional matters.

Sustainable Development (Government Estate)

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of electricity used by buildings in (a) his Department and (b) its agencies came from renewable sources in each year from 1997.

Bill Rammell: The proportion of electricity from renewable sources used by buildings in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, since 1997 is:
	
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 1997 0 
			 1998 0 
			 1999 0 
			 2000 0 
			 2001 0 
			 2002 9.3 
			 2003 43.9 
			 2004 (47) 
		
	
	(47) This year is expected to be in the region of the previous year.

Sustainable Development (Government Estate)

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much (a) his Department and (b) agencies of the Department spent on (i) electricity and (ii) water and sewerage services in each year from 1997.

Bill Rammell: The information requested about the cost of electricity and water and sewerage services to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 199798 and 199899 could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The information requested about the cost of electricity and water and sewerage services from 1999 onwards is as follows:
	
		
		
			  Electricity Water/sewerage 
		
		
			 19992000 998,485 47,906 
			 200001 1,007,212 50,366 
			 200102 949,035 52,970 
			 200203 813,854 56,914 
			 200304 818,932 70,634 
		
	
	The information requested about the cost of electricity and water and sewerage services, to Agencies of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, in 199798 and 199899 could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The cost of electricity and water and sewerage services from 1999 onwards is as follows:
	
		
		
			  Electricity Water/sewerage 
		
		
			 19992000 19,574.85 1,394.10 
			 200001 16,396.34 942.39 
			 200102 18,302.97 2,324.06 
			 200203 15,780.15 2,063.87 
			 200304 17,858.39 1,623.81

Sustainable Development (Government Estate)

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what have been identified as the most significant sustainable development impacts in relation to the operation of his Department's estate pursuant to the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate.

Bill Rammell: Our main sustainable development impacts relate to energy and water use, waste, procurement and travel.

Sustainable Development (Government Estate)

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what parts of his Department's estate will not be covered by the commitments set out in the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate.

Bill Rammell: Overseas posts are not covered by our commitments under the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate. They are however encouraged to operate in ways that reflect our approach to improved environmental performance in the UK and several of them are undertaking local environmental initiatives. It would require disproportionate resources to apply the framework targets to the whole of the overseas estate at present. Approximately 38 per cent. of posts have four or less UK based staff and around 9 per cent. have only one.

Western Sahara

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the resignation of Mr. James Baker as special envoy to the Western Sahara.

Bill Rammell: We have consistently supported the efforts of the UN Secretary-General and his former personal envoy, James Baker III to find a solution to the dispute. We believe that it is important that the UN process continues, and fully support Alvaro de Soto, UN Special Representative to Western Sahara, in his efforts to take negotiations forward.
	The United Kingdom continues to seek a just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution to the Western Sahara dispute that provides the people of the Western Sahara with an opportunity to exercise their right to self-determination.

Western Sahara

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has held with the French authorities on French policy towards Morocco and the Western Sahara.

Bill Rammell: We have had no recent discussions with the French authorities on their policy towards Morocco and the Western Sahara.
	Our position has remained consistent. We seek a just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution to the Western Sahara dispute that provides the people of the Western Sahara with an opportunity to exercise their right to self-determination. We have consistently supported UN efforts to find a solution to the dispute.

TREASURY

Near Cash Definition

Keith Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what definition he uses of the term near cash.

Paul Boateng: Departmental budgets are set on an accruals basis and therefore reflect the full economic costs of service delivery. The term near cash was introduced in the 2002 Spending Review (paragraph B14 of the 2002 Spending Review White Papers, Cm 5570) as a means of allowing readers to reconcile the announced plans to the previous budgeting regime.
	Its definition has now evolved to simply describe departmental resource budgets less non-cash charges. The main non-cash charges currently included in budgets are depreciation and impairments, cost of capital, stock write-off, national audit fees, bad debts, profit and loss on disposal of fixed assets and movement in provisions. The term near cash is used rather than cash because it remains on an accruals basis and does not reflect the timing of actual cash payments.

Aviation Taxation

Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of plans by the German Government (a) to levy a tax on aircraft fuel and (b) to extend the application of VAT to international flight tickets; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: We are not aware of any published German Government plans to levy a tax on aircraft fuel. Although the German Government had planned to introduce VAT on certain air tickets, those plans were blocked by the Bundesrat last year.

Customs and Excise

Roger Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what records Customs and Excise keeps of smokies legally imported into the country.

John Healey: Smokies, taken to be singed carcases of sheep and goats with the skin attached, are among meat products whose importation is prohibited under the Products of Animal Origin (Third Country Imports) (England) Regulations 2004. Equivalent legislation exists in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. HM Customs and Excise have no records of declared imports and their records of illegal meat seizures do not separately identify smokies.

Departmental Air Travel

Roy Beggs: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total cost of air travel between Northern Ireland and Great Britain was for (a) Ministers and (b) staff of Her Majesty's Treasury in the latest year for which figures are available.

Ruth Kelly: For the year ended 31 March 2004, flights to and from Northern Ireland under the Treasury's travel management contract cost 18,961, of which 1,068 was for Ministers' travel and 17,893 was for officials. Other flights may have been booked outside the travel management contract but it would not be economic to assess those costs, and they are not likely to be significant.

Departmental Air Travel

Paul Marsden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list for each year since 1997 the number of miles flown by each Minister on official departmental business.

Ruth Kelly: The information is not available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Review Targets

Howard Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff are employed by HM Treasury to work towards meeting the target under (a) Objective 3 and (b) Objective 10 in the 2004 departmental review; what the expected salary cost of employing those staff in 200405 is in each case; and what the total expected costs of working towards each target are for 200405.

Ruth Kelly: The number of staff working on each of the Treasury's objectives is given each year in the Department's resource accounts.

People of Retirement Age

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the number of people of retirement age who are in (a) full-time and (b) part-time work.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from John Pullinger to Mr. Mark Simmonds, dated 5 July 2004
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the number of people of retirement age that are in (a) full-time and (b) part-time work. I am replying in his absence. (182176)
	The attached table gives the most recently available estimates of the number of people of retirement age that are in full-time and part-time work. This refers to men aged 65 and over and women aged 60 and over.
	Estimates are taken from the Office for National Statistics' Labour Force Survey (LFS). As with any sample statistical survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to sampling variability.
	
		Number of people of retirement age(48) in employment, United Kingdom, three month period ending February 2004 2 -- Thousand
		
			 Employment status Number of people 
		
		
			 Total in employment 975 
			 Full-time 277 
			 Part-time 697 
		
	
	(48) Men aged 65 and over and women aged 60 and over.
	(49) Not seasonally adjusted.
	Source:
	ONS Labour Force Survey.

Teachers (Loans)

Graham Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether it is his policy that interest free loans provided to teachers in London by the Government should be treated as a taxable benefit.

Dawn Primarolo: Where interest-free loans are made to employees by their employer, or are arranged or guaranteed by the employer, they will usually be treated as a taxable benefit. The rules are the same for teachers as for other employees.

UK Population

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer by how much the UK population has changed in each year since 1992.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. David Willetts, dated 5 July 2004
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your question concerning the annual change in UK population since 1992. I am replying in his absence. (182136)
	A table showing population estimates for the UK and the change in population each year from 1992 to 2002 is shown below. This table incorporates interim revised population estimates; for England and Wales for mid-1992 to mid-2000, which were revised in light of research following the 2001 Census. These estimates -are subject to future revision. Revised population estimates for mid-2001 and mid-2002 are due to be published together with the mid-2003 population estimates in late August 2004. Further information about revisions to population estimates can be found at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/about/Methodology by theme/revisions popestimates.asp
	
		Total population and annual change in population, UK, 19922002 -- Thousand, percentage
		
			   Annual change in population 
			  Mid-year population Number Percentage 
		
		
			 1992 57,582.3   
			 1993 57,711.0 128.7 0.25 
			 1994 57,855.2 144.2 0.22 
			 1995 58,005.1 149.9 0.25 
			 1996 58,139.4 134.4 0.26 
			 1997 58,282.8 143.4 0.23 
			 1998 58,440.1 157.3 0.25 
			 1999 58,635.2 195.1 0.27 
			 2000 58,816.6 181.4 0.33 
			 2001 59,050.8 234.3 0.31 
			 2002 59,231.9 181.1 0.40 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures may not add exactly due to rounding.
	2. These estimates will be revised when the final historical series are published.
	Sources:
	Office for National Statistics, General Register Office for Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.

Unclaimed Assets

Tom Brake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimate the Department has made of the value of National Savings accounts that are unclaimed.

Ruth Kelly: Unclaimed monies in the National Savings and Investments Product Accounts refer to monies where: the product has been redeemed by the Treasury; monthly interest or prizes are due; or to un-cashed Savings Stamps; and where the sums are transferable to the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt. The unaudited estimate of the total unclaimed monies as at 31 March 2004 is 33.6 million.

Watermark Project

Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department has joined the Watermark Project.

Paul Boateng: The Treasury was among the first organisations to join the Watermark Project.

Youth Unemployment

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the level of long-term youth unemployment in Coventry, South.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl, to Mr. Jim Cunningham, dated 5 July 12004
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about unemployment. I am replying in his absence. (181880)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics of unemployment from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) following International Labour Organisation definitions. However, the LFS sample size is too small to give reliable estimates of unemployment in the Coventry South Constituency.
	ONS also compiles statistics of those claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (ISA) for local areas including parliamentary constituencies.
	In May 2004 there were 18 people aged 1824 resident in the Coventry South Constituency who had been claiming JSA for over 12 months.